Shake It Up
by RocknRoll 0408
Summary: Meet college freshman Aria Stone. She now resides in Mystic Falls. Which is weird because to her it only existed in a TV show. What's a girl to do when her favorite characters are suddenly real and Bamon is just not happening? Yet.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. **

**Note: This is the tale of Aria who is sent to Mystic Fall (for unknown reasons) the night Elena died. Parts will remain like the show, but since the main objective is Bamon it will frequently stray off path of the show. Read if you enjoy Bamon with a twist! This is my first "close to plot, random character" story so I hope you enjoy! **

_Chapter 1: Changing Channels_

I walked around the living room again, listening to my iPod as I waited for the clock to read eight pm. The Vampire Diaries was on soon. I hadn't missed an episode yet, I was tempted to though. Once Jeremy and Bonnie hooked up. I mean, _really?_ _Could the writers not do any better? Did they not see our pain and cries for some Bamon action? _Okay, so maybe in the past there was enough action for the Bamon fans to live off, but, that wasn't the point. There needed to be more. There could always be _more._ Hopefully now with Bonnie back season five there would be. Somehow.I sighed and plopped on the couch as I played with a strain of my black hair. Most of it was black anyway, there were some streaks of red. I leaned back and put my legs on the couch, flicking my shoes off in the process, my toe nail polish still looked good. Neon orange.

Smiling in satisfaction I flipped the TV on and adjusted myself comfortable on the couch. _It's time! _I squealed to myself just as I realized the TV didn't go on. I tried again, still, nothing happened. Maybe the remote needed new batteries, it did seem to be working a little slower lately. With that thought I wondered out in the hallway of "my" freshman college apartment. Thanks to my parent and their handy dandy never ending supply of money I not only had any choice of school I wanted to attend but also any choice of apartment. New York City was just obvious. I would've gone to England but I would miss home too quickly.

Going over to the drawers in the kitchen I found some loose batteries. I would've started putting them in the remote had I not glanced at the clock. Eight o'clock. _Wasn't it eight o'clock a few minutes ago? _I thought as I held the batteries in my hand and felt a small shiver. Slowly, I went back into the living room, the clock on the window sill also read eight o'clock. _Hm. _I thought as I put the batteries down and wandered into my bedroom. _Wow, I need to at least _pick up_ my clothes… _I thought to myself as I kicked aside a pair of jeans. The small clock/iPod/radio/alarm also eight o'clock. "It's fine, maybe all the clocks are just broke" I said aloud as I tried the small TV on my nightstand. Nothing. "And all the TVs" I added feeling a weird sensation that wasn't quite reaching terrified.

I went back into the kitchen, grabbing all the batteries I could, but paused upon seeing a scrap of paper that definitely wasn't there when I came in the first time. "It's time" was all it said. I scrunched my nose and looked over it again. "_It's time_" I said aloud as I heard a door close in the not so distance. "_It's time to be murdered?" _I wondered quietly as I glanced down the hall but not one was there, as I moved closer I saw the door was open. The only door leading out into the main hallway. I squinted and stared another second longer but then, it closed. And not by itself, someone definitely closed that door. "Hey!" I shouted as I ran down, pulled open the door and stood outside in the hallway looking both ways. I peeked over the staircase and there, someone in a black hoodie was running out of sight. Quickly, without thinking I followed. "Hey wait!" I shouted still running.

By the time I reached the top of the last flight of stairs the person was to the front door. "Stop!" I shouted at them; and they did. One hand on the door. I stopped too but just as I started down the stairs they slightly turned, not much, I couldn't see their face, I couldn't even tell if it was a guy or girl, but they stopped. Just as suddenly as they stopped they pulled open the door and were gone. I ran the rest of the way down and pulled open the door to follow them out onto the streets of New York City.

Or so I thought.

It was dark, that much was obvious, but it was a different kind of dark. Like an eerie dark. Like something mad had just happened kind of dark. And not in the New York City type of way. I looked around. _Where the hell was I? _I asked as I glanced around as my suddenly quiet surrounding as I hugged. I heard a splash, somewhere in the distance. It was a loud splash, and I knew there was a sound before it but it didn't sound 'normal' so it was hard to place. Not thinking, again—still—whatever—I headed toward the nose; it took a few seconds longer than I thought to get there but eventually I came across a bridge. It looked broke. _Is everything broke tonight? _I wondered as I saw a girl on the far end smiling. Or maybe I assumed she was smiling, it was hard to see her exact features from this far away. She was a blonde haired girl; that was all I could see.

The next part happened too quickly. _Literally._ She was there and then she wasn't and then someone else appeared and then he was gone, over the bridge. And then he was back, some guy in his arms. _Why does this look so familiar? _I asked myself as I continued watching. There was someone else in that car, I told myself, though unable to move. _Someone else. _I thought as I felt my thoughts halt. This looked exactly like the season three finale of The Vampire Diaries. The blonde chick was had stood in the middle of the road so the car would drive off the bridge. Then there would be a guy diving in to save whoever was left in the car. _Wait. _That meant someone else was in there. But no, that wasn't_ this_. I thought as I ran over anyway peering over the bridge as the lights flashed in the car. Between the flashes I saw another body. Her brown hair floating. _Oh my god! Someone else is in that car! _I told myself as I jumped in.

To say that was a smart idea was far from smart. Not only did I not realize how far down she was, but it also dawned on me that the water was cold. Still, I pushed on until I reached the car, my lungs burning. I had to squint hard to see if the person was actually there or if I had imagined them, but sure enough they were sitting there. I moved closer. _Elena Gilbert! _I let out a scream—stupid—my lungs filling with water as I did. I tried to hold my breath again but it was no use. The water was filling my lungs. I blinked as much as I could, anything to stay conscious as I tried to flap my arms to bring me to the surface but nothing, my body only heavier, as were my eyes as I slowly let go to drift off. My last sight of a guy who looked like Stefan Salvatore. _Hm. Too much TVD obviously. Still, this is a good picture to go with. _My mind was saying as my eyes closed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character Aria.**

**Note: Thanks for viewing the first chapter everyone! It means so much to me! What do you think so far? I'm trying to create some ground before jumping into Bamon but it will happen soon!**

_Chapter 2: Not Dying. Winning._

I coughed a few times as I turned to my side, squeezing my eye shut. _What was that saying about dying in a dream? _I asked myself as I moaned a little and slowly opened my eyes. I froze. This was _not_ my nice little bedroom. For one, it was bigger. _Why was it so big? Where was I? Was in hell happened? Did I die? _I quickly pushed myself up, the blanket falling off my shoulder. I was in a bedroom, that was obvious, but it wasn't mine. "Who are you?" I jerked my head in the direction of the voice, my eyes nearly popping out of my head as I stared at who could only be Damon Salvatore. "I would say a Bennett but you seemed completely useless in the water" he said dryly as I continued staring at him. _No, of course he would assume I was Bennett because I was randomly on a bridge helping Elena. _

"Aria, my name is Aria Stone" I told him when I finally found my voice. He stared at me a minute longer, squinted as he did, his expression still hard and registering.

"Well _Aria, _you almost died, congratulations" he said, his voice still sarcastic. I blinked a few times, _I wasn't dead? _I wondered a Damon walked closer into the room.

"Elena, is she okay? Did she die?" I asked my voice lined with worry as I jumped out of the bed but Damon was in front of door giving me a look.

"You're still soaked and you're in your naughty clothes, you can't just go wandering around the house checking on dead people" he said as he squinted harder. "How do you know Elena? I've never seen you before and Bonnie has never mentioned an Aria" he said as he continued blocking the door.

"It's complicated, and these are my pajamas" I told him gesturing to my "outfit"; a pair of black boxers with fire engines I had stolen from my brother's unopened boxer's set and a white tank top that I was most regrettably wearing now. "Is Elena okay?" I asked looking around the room.

"No" he said as I looked back at him, his eye a certain sadness now.

"Stefan didn't save her then…" I whispered.

"Had you not jumped in, had he not saved you—after Matt—maybe she would've been alive" Damon said as I felt my stomach jerk. _No, it wasn't my fault, she died anyway. _"Who are you?" he asked again but I shook my head as I unsuccessfully tried to push pass him. "I have a thing against random pretty chicks showing up around here" he said. "So either you tell me who you are and where you came from and why you're here or I snap your neck" he said as I heard myself gulp. "Usually there's a second option but I'm just too pissed to think of one" he said with a tight smile.

"You can't kill me" I said stupidly. Of course he _could_, he was Damon, I was pretty sure him and Klaus were full-time killers. "I mean, please, _please_ don't kill me" I said as he squinted again. I restrained from every urge to reach out and touch him. If it was a dream he'd let me but he wouldn't feel like anything, if it was reality he'd probably rip my neck open. I really didn't want to find out either. Somewhere downstairs there was a door opening and closing, footsteps running.

"I'm assuming you know how to pick locks, so I'm going to put something in front of the door. Well, two sometimes. Either way, you stay here. I'll check on you later" he said as stepped out and closed the door. I listened to the lock being turned and then obviously a chair in front of that. The last nose I heard was shaking. "Is that…_salt_?" I asked myself as the nose stopped and Damon's footsteps went in the opposite direction.

I tried to listen as closely as I could but the nose seemed like grumbles, even as they grew louder I couldn't tell what anyone was saying. I stepped back, noticing a mirror to my right. I made a face as I glanced at my reflection. My hair was matted, the curls now just a mess every which way and due to the drying of water my skin looked noticeably ashy. The _only _thing I was thankful about was that I did wear the boxers and I did wear a sports bra to bed. That water was freezing. I searched the room, most of it was empty, but I was happy to find a jar of what looked like lotion in one of the bottom drawers. Quickly I lotioned myself as much as I could. _How was I supposed to get back home like this?_ I wondered as I sat on the bed, my mind quickly flying through all the people who were probably wondering where I was.

I awoke to knocking on the door; when I had fallen asleep I did not know but I was awake now. I stared at the door realizing the knock was on the wall. "It's unlocked, just open it" I heard the voice on the other side say. Slowly, I went over and opened the door, Stefan standing on the other side. I had to give the guy credit, even with his brooding expression he was still hot. I always loved his thick eyebrows and troubled eyes. I shook my head as I brought myself to attention.

"I owe you a thank you" I told him as he stared at me.

"You could've died in there, what were you thinking?" he asked gently. Another reason I liked Stefan, he spoke gently, kindly.

"I was trying to save Elena" I told him but he didn't reply. "It's a long, really weird story but I was trying to save her" I said as he looked down at the line of salt.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I'm a vegetarian so if you have something without meat…" I trailed off realizing what exactly he meant as I too looked at the salt. "Oh." I said as a hint of a smile crossed his face.

"So you're not a vampire?" he asked as I shook my head.

"Um, how's Elena?" I asked as he dropped any sign of humor and shook his head. "Great, now she's a vampire, just want she didn't want" I said as Stefan raised an eyebrow at me. "It's complicated, I swear otherwise I would tell you—" I cut myself off. This was how Season Four started. Granted I wasn't in it. Obviously. Still. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came to mind. What was I supposed to say exactly? _Oh hey, this is actually a TV show and you're not real. _Or _Yeah, later on Jeremy dies and Elena turns off her emotions and raises hell. _Or. _Hey Stefan guess what? Silas is your doppelganger! Yay you! Oh and you get to repeatedly die in a safe all summer. _I shivered at the last thought. Okay, so obviously none of those things I could say, but, I could help. _Right? _Assuming they let me out of the room, which at the moment did not seem like a possibility. What else happened in Season Three? I wondered as I tried to rack my memory, Stefan moving closer.

"Listen, I don't know you but you don't seem like a threat" he said as I snorted.

"Neither was Rebekah; look what she did…" I mumbled but it was quite obvious Stefan heard me. "I didn't mean that" I tried saying but Stefan only moved closer, his eyes staring into mine. _Great, I was going to be compelled by a vampire. _I thought.

"Who are you?" he asked as I tightened up but felt the desire to say something not there. "Where did you come from?" he tried asking but again, nothing.

"Um, maybe you're doing it wrong?" I suggested as he furrowed his eyebrows but stopped trying to compel me.

"Bonnie should be here soon, we can talk to her. I'll send Damon back up, maybe he can try something" Stefan said as he stepped back. "You know the rules?" he asked as I nodded. "Okay, I'll see if I can find some dry clothes" he said, his voice still kind as he closed the door. Lock, chair, salt.

"Tell Elena I said 'hi'!" I shouted as his footsteps started moving away from the door but paused and then started again. I shook my head "_tell Elena I said hi_?" I repeated back to myself as I went back over to the bed and sat down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character.**

**Note: How are you guys liking it so far? I'm really happy it's being looked at. Here's our first Bamon scene!**

_Chapter 3: Nice to Meet You Freaks_

I nearly flew off the bed as I saw the handle being turned. "Stefan said you're tricky" Damon said as he paused remembering the salt. I slowly went over, clearing away the salt with my foot, my white sock now filthy. "So you're not a vampire, could still be a werewolf" he said as I wrinkled my nose.

"I rather be a vampire" I said unintentionally realizing I was supposed to be alarmed at the sound of term werewolf, they even existed. "Besides, according to this show they can still be compelled" I told him but quickly realized my wording. "Show as in, freaks…" I said as Damon raised an eyebrow at me the same way his brother had.

"So that leaves witch" he said stepping into the room. "Which leds to my next test" he moved closer, his eyes focusing on mine as I tensed, not because it was working but just because I had only imagined Damon this close to me in my dreams. "How do you know Elena Gilbert?" he asked but my mouth remained tightly shut. "You will go stand in the middle of the room and take your shirt off" he said as gave him a look of horror as he merely shrugged. "Worth a shot, sometimes it works when you catch them off guard" he added.

"Where is she?" I felt my ears perk up at the sound of Bonnie's voice. She was just as pretty as she looked when I watched her on TV though a little more concerned. "What are you doing to her? Are you compelling her?" she asked glaring at Damon. "Elena is a…and you're…"

"Relax witchy, it's not working" he said glancing over at her.

"I'm not a vampire" I told Bonnie who nodded, only looking mildly skeptical at my presence. Understandably so, she had more pressing things on her mind.

"Where did you come from?" she asked gently.

"It's going to sound crazy—"

"Trust me, _you are in_ crazyville" Damon interrupted but fell quiet at Bonnie's death glare.

"I was in my apartment, not anywhere around here, in NYC, and then the clocks stopped working and I chased someone out of the apartment and out of the building. When I got outside I was here," I explained as Damon narrowed his eyes at me.

"Like Alice in Wonderland?" Bonnie asked as I laughed.

"Yeah, kinda" I said with a shrug as Damon crossed his arms over his chest.

"What were you doing on the bridge?" Bonnie asked.

"I heard the splash and went over to the bridge, saw Rebekah walk off and then Stefan jump in. I jumped in after he saved Matt and then I freaked out and nearly drowned" I concluded.

"I asked you the same questions" Damon said with great annoyance.

"No you tried to compel it out of me. It's different when you straight up ask" I told him as Bonnie tilted her head, either she was kind of impressed or thought I was kind of stupid. I mean, he was Damon, it wasn't exactly smart standing up to him. Then again, besides Bonnie, no one really did.

"How do you know Rebekah and Matt?" Damon asked.

"They're characters on a show called The Vampire Diaries" I said in all out honesty as I was replied with blank stares. "See, I told you it was crazy" I told them as they continued staring.

"A show…?" Bonnie finally got out.

"Yeah, but, um, this doesn't happen" I said pointing to myself.

"And you're not a witch?" Bonnie asked as I shook my head.

"Alright, a useless human we can toss aside and not worry about" Damon said as I furrowed my eyes at him, a little hurt he really didn't care about anyone.

"You can't compel her, what if she runs into the Klaus and says something?" Bonnie asked as I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not stupid, I know he's the bad guy, listen, I can help" I told her grabbing her arm. "Please, I'm here for a reason. I got a message, sort of. It said 'it's time' obviously that means I'm supposed to be here, so let me help" I said as Bonnie started to speak up but Damon held his hand up.

"Can you compel people? Do you perform spells? Do you morph into a werewolf?" Damon asked as I gulped gain. "Because quite honestly, being human around here has absolutely no benefit. We are not baby-sitters, Matt and Jeremy are enough to handle. So you need to go back where you came from" he said with a serious expression.

"Damon, stop; listen, we're all angry, we're all sad" she said gently as she reached out to touch his arm. I was tempted to go back over to the bed and sit down and just watch them. These were the moments that were obviously cut from tape. "We're going get her back, you know that. I'll do anything I can" she said, her voice low as Damon searched her face as I tried to hold back a squeal of excitement. "We'll save her Damon" she said firmly and then looked back over at me. "Stay here, Damon will get you whatever you need. I'll go see what I can do," she said as Damon rolled his eyes.

"Bonnie, be careful" I told her as she paused in the doorway. "Just always be careful, please" I said as she nodded, gave me a light smile.

"I'll see what I can do about getting you home" she said before leaving the room and heading downstairs, leaving me alone with Damon.

"So, you and Bonnie, ever, _you know_?" I asked as he snorted but didn't reply. "Have you thought about it?" I asked with a little grin as he gave me a hard glare.

"Change and come downstairs in five minutes. If you're not down there I will come back and drag you out" he said tossing me some clothes before he left, giving the door a little slam on his way out. I felt myself smile a little, she reached out and touched him to comfort him. She felt _something _for him and he thought about her, her searched her face with worry. He felt _something _for her. With any luck, I could try and be cupid, at least until I was murdered or Bonnie actually found a way for me to get back home. Shake it up a little, I thought to myself as I started to quickly change clothes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character Aria.**

**Note: I'm so excited/surprised to see this story getting checked out and reviews. You guys are awesome. Keep up with the feedback! And the reading! **

_Chapter 4: A Bite to Eat_

I tugged on the shirt as I headed out of room, it was a light tight, my boobs definitely did not enjoy it but it fit. _Who was I to complain?_ Especially in front of a group of vampires. At least the jeans fit, for the most part. Obviously when I got back home I was going to make the treadmill my best friend. I thought as I slid off my socks before leaving the room. I peeked into the next room, no Elena, next room, no Elena. Next room, no Elena._ Good_. I thought, she kind of annoyed me. I _was _trying to make the effort to not hate but she just pissed me off in so many ways, and that whole Sire Bond thing. The whole self-pity, the whole hypocrite thing. I shook my head at the thought; stop thinking.

"There she is, the freak from Greek" Damon said as I sat down and shot him a look. "I see the clothes don't fit" he said with a little humor as I glanced down at the yellow and blank stripped tank top and faded navy blue jeans.

"They fit…" I said defensively as he snorted. "So, vampire, huh?" I asked mainly because I had nothing else to say.

"So, TV show" he countered turning back to me with a plate with a sandwich on it. Peanut butter and jelly. _Uh-oh. _I thought as he sat the plate in front of me.

"I'm allergic to peanuts" I told him as I pulled my arms away from the table. "It's too bad, I just break out in hives and get watery eyes and go into a coughing fit" I explained as he grabbed the plate and threw it all away, including the glass plate. "Sorry" I said.

"You know, if someone is going to just appear out of nowhere they could be useful. You? No, you have no special talents and you're allergic to peanuts" he said in slight disbelief.

"I can't be compelled, that will be helpful when Katherine shows up" I said as Damon looked at me with question as I rolled my eyes. "Okay, you watch TV, or at least know what a TV show is. So far there's five seasons of this show—"

"It's that popular. Huh, must be something about my dying good looks and charm and simple wit that keeps the writers going" he said with a little smile.

"Yeah, forget the rest of the cast" I said sarcastically. "Anyway, _this_, what's happening now is Season Three, well, the beginning of Season Four" I explained.

"So essentially you already know what's going to happen?" he asked as I nodded. "So, what happens?" he asked, point blank. I don't know why I hesitated, maybe because it was a loaded question, maybe because there was that loud warning bell in the back of my mind saying he shouldn't know.

"I shouldn't tell you" I said quietly as he let out an annoyed sigh and pulled open the refrigerator door. It took him a second but finally he pulled out some turkey, ham and cheese. "I don't eat meat or anything like that, I'm a vegetarian—well minus the milk and cheese and eggs" I said even quieter as he paused to look at me. "Lacto—" I started but stopped at his expression which looked closed to saying he was tempted to strangle me.

"What kind of hell do you live in?" he asked in his typical 'Damon being annoyed' tone as he shoved the food away and went for the cereal and a jug of milk. "This is regular two percent. Yes or no?" he asked shaking the jug.

"Yes" I said.

"These are coco puffs, yes or no to chocolate?" asked now shaking the box of cereal.

"Yes" I said as he set the box and milk in front of me as he got a bowl. I quickly helped myself to the cereal, trying my best to ignore Damon as he sat across from and watched me eat. "I'm not telling you anything Damon" I said as I poured more cereal.

"No, I know, I'm just still wondering what exactly you're good for" he said as he grabbed his phone that was buzzing in his pocket. "Don't move" he said as he walked into the next room. I listened, Stefan was apparently off feeding—I guess I missed the part where she decided to feed. That meant the part where people realized she was Sired was coming soon. "Great" Damon said as he walked back into the room. "C'mon, back to your room" he said as grabbed my arm.

"Wait, why?" I asked but he was already tossing me in the room.

"Elena is coming back, we don't need her feeding off the guest" he said and then closed the door.

I cursed a few times, looking around for an exit. _Of course, the window. _I thought as I went over, pulling it open. I looked down, okay, so it was a bit high, but, not impossible. I went back over to the bed and grabbed my socks and then back to window, climbing up so I could position myself to jump.

"I will snap your neck after I break your fall" Damon said from below. I gritted my teeth as I climbed back in, sitting on the edge of the bed, glancing over as Damon remained below me. "You know, I'm really surprised you didn't try this earlier" he said as I rolled my eyes. "Seriously Aria, you out of all of us know how dangerous it is here, don't be stupid" he said and then disappeared. I fell back on the bed, it was true, I did know.

I wasn't sure how long Damon kept me in the room, but I knew it was longer than a day. I wasn't able to hear any of the nose outside. I did get to eat, most of the time someone would bring me in cereal while I was sleep. I was starting to think maybe they had drugged the cereal. I felt like hopeless, and a little like Alice or a prisnor. I thought as I started humming one night as the sun went down.

Just as I started to curl up and stare at a wall there was a knock on the door. I quickly got my feet, expecting to see Damon, but there was Bonnie. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked gently as I nodded.

"I'm alright, a little lonely" I said with a little laugh as she smiled and nodded. "You're breaking me out?" I asked in disbelief.

"No, actually we're taking you with us. We have important things to do and we can't have some pointless chick running around jumping off bridges" Damon said as he stood out in the hallway. Bonnie glared at him as he gave her a look and then rolled his eyes.

"You kinda get use to him after a while" she told me as I felt myself tempted to say something but held back. "You're going to be a vampire" she said handing me a costume.

"Very original" Damon said sarcastically. I nodded and ducked into the bathroom. They were going to some costume fraternity party. Bonnie was going to meet Professor Shane and Elena was going to go on a food binge because Damon said so and then she'd realize what she was doing and Bonnie would look at Damon with disgust. Well, that certainly wasn't going to happen, I thought as I put in the fake fangs and stepped out.

"Oh." I said suddenly as I emerged from the bathroom coming face to face with Elena.

"Hi, I'm Elena, I heard you tried to save me" she said as she stuck out a hand but I didn't move. "Right, no, you probably don't want to shake my hand, I'm a vampire now, I need to exercise self-control" she said firmly as she nodded her head and pulled her hand back. _Why _was she the star of this show? She was a babbling idiot. At best she was next to that chick from Twilight. At least she hadn't killed that Conner guy yet. _When did that happen again?_

"Yeah, I um, almost died…" I said feeling a little silly about my past actions.

"Lucky; I _did _die" she said with a heavy sigh and shrug. _Yes Elena, because it's all about you, like no one saw it coming. _I thought sarcastically as I tried my best not to glare at her or roll my eyes.

"Alright, let's get going" Damon said interrupting my thought process as we headed out. Okay, so maybe I wouldn't let Elena fed on random students tonight, I did _not_ want to hear her guilt trip herself. On the other hand if I tried to stop her it meant raising suspicion with Damon who would attempt to kill me which Bonnie would try and stop before meeting Shane disabling her from getting her powers back in the long run. _What the hell had I gotten myself into?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Note: So happy for all the followers and reviews. Thank you everyone! Keep in mind it might jump around a little, but I'll let you know where I am. **

_Chapter 5: It's A Party, Let's Dance!_

Getting there was no trouble, I only wished Elena hadn't been so obvious with her staring. I kind of wanted to ask her how it was being the only thing she hated. The temptation was there, but I knew it wouldn't have the desired effect so instead I kept to staring out the window. "Hey" Bonnie whispered, nudging my arm.

"Hmm?" I asked though I didn't look at her.

"It's okay, you know, if you're a witch or vampire or anything like that, we can work things out, I won't let anyone hurt you" she whispered. I gave her a little smile as she smiled back. _God Bonnie, why you gotta be so sweet? _I wondered.

"You know, that kind of caring could get you killed one day" I said as I felt both Damon and Elena look at me. "I mean, in general" I quickly added. "Besides, doesn't everyone die at least once around here?" I asked as Elena looked away first. "I'm fine Bonnie, really, I am. I don't know why I can't be compelled but I'm not a vampire or witch. I swear" I told her as she nodded.

A few minutes later we were finally parking, I was the first to jump out of the car, but only managed to get as far as the sidewalk before Damon had me pinned to the car. "It's okay, go ahead" I told Elena and Bonnie half sarcastically as they still hung back with worry.

"I'm not gonna kill her" Damon added. "Yet" he added as he looked back at me.

"I mean no harm, I'm serious" I told him.

"That doesn't mean I have to trust you, it only adds to my list. Do you know how many people I don't trust?" he asked as I felt myself roll my eyes.

"Does that include or not include yourself?" I asked as he gave me a tight smile.

"You are to stay by my side the whole night, if you as to so much look for an exit I will tear your head off, got me?" I let out a laugh in disbelief. _Was he really this much of an asshole?_

"Yeah got it, now let go" I said pushing his hands off my shoulders.

"Of course that means not being able to show Elena what being a vampire is really all about…" he said with a little disappointment.

"Oh, you mean having her randomly feed on students and grid up on you?" I asked as he slowly turned to look back at me.

"You know, for someone who is a devoted watcher of the show you seem to hate the main characters an awful lot" he said as he grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the door.

"Well maybe if you weren't a prick and Elena wasn't so pathetically helpless" I mumbled. I knew it wasn't the best idea to talk about his almost girlfriend like that but I wasn't about to lie to him and say I actually liked Elena. Especially if I didn't.

"Around here the girls surprise their negative feelings and opinions" Damon said as we reached the door guy. "Hi, we're vampires" he said as the door guy raised an eyebrow.

"He's the vampire, I'm the unwilling participate he thinks is a vampire" I told him as Damon gave me a hard jerk. "We have some friends that just went inside" I added. Finally the door guy let us pass. "Can you at least let go of my arm?" I asked as we entered the loud and crowded room.

"Nope" Damon replied over the music as he started off toward the kitchen.

"You know Damon, some would call this an abusive relationship" I told him but he ignored me as he grabbed two cups.

"You drink?" he asked pouring the drinks away.

"For you Damon, of course" I said with an annoyed smile as he handed over the cup.

"So you say I spend my time getting Elena to drink and grid up on her?" he asked.

"Can't do that if you babysit me" I reminded him.

"I'm sure you know what threesomes are" he replied as he poured another cup and led me out of the room. "Here, drink" he told Elena handing her a cup. "Where's Bonnie?" he asked as Elena took a sip and then pointed upstairs. "Alright, stay here, I'll go check on her" Damon started. I was almost too late pulling his arm.

"She needs to talk to him, leave her alone" I told him as he rolled his eyes.

"She's right, let her talk, I'm sure it's fine" Elena said she took Damon's hand and let him back toward the middle of the dance floor. I rolled my eyes as the two started dancing but decided to duck out of sight when Damon started whispering to her. I knew what came next and I wasn't particular fond of watching the two bite people and have their face covered with blood. Especially if this time it was real blood. I shivered at the thought, _real. _Everything here was really happening. That really couldn't be good, could it? I thought as I managed to find an unoccupied couch.

I continued watching people as the time slowly went pass; finally I caught Bonnie who was coming down the stairs and looking for her friends. Well, friend. I hurried and push my way toward her. "Bonnie, hey Bonnie!" I shouted as I finally reached her. "Let's go outside" I told her trying to get her to stop looking around. She didn't need another reason to hate Damon. I couldn't let her hate him. Still, as if I wasn't there Bonnie continued searching, her eyes falling on what must have been them.

"What is she doing?" she asked me with a little shock.

"Feeding," I said as I looked over too.

"I know what she is, but…" she trailed off and shook her head. "This is his fault," she said glaring at Damon who seemed overly into staring into Elena's eyes, no doubt he was feeling the high.

"It's not his fault" I said even though, technically it was. "If she wanted to feed on animals she would; hey, Bonnie, what did Professor Shane say?" I asked her as she jerked her head back to me.

"How did you know who I went to see?" she asked.

"Um, Elena told me" I lied as she nodded and started down the rest of the steps. Just then Elena caught her friend looking, her face slowly turning into realization as she looked around. And then pity and shame kicked in. I rolled my eyes, Elena was such a drama queen. She could be cool, she was at some point, but now. I shook my head as I looked back, Damon was looking at Bonnie too. But it wasn't the angry glare I thought he gave her when I watched the show. It wasn't fear or triumph either. It was disappointment. Not that he had to stop, no, he looked disappointed at himself, not quite shame, but disappointed that he had indeed convinced Elena—Bonnie's best friend—to feed off people. Disappointed that Bonnie looked so let down by what was happening.

I knew it wasn't much, but it was something, Damon had a look for Bonnie, somewhere he cared for her. Somewhere he respected and valued her opinion. But he covered it up. But why? I wondered as I followed all three of them out, but not bothering to listen to their argument. I climbed in the car and waited for them to finish, the tension clear as they all got in the car. Although no one said a word on the way home I caught Damon looking in the review mirror a few times at Bonnie. His eyes looked so sad, he looked so sad and mad at himself for messing up. Bonnie spent her time staring out the window or looking at the back of Elena's head.

Even when we pulled in the driveway no one said anything. I paused at the door, waiting for Damon who looked back to his old annoyed self. "You care about her" I whispered to him as he looked at me. For a split second we seemed to know exactly which one I was referring to. My eyes widened as his glare didn't quiet reach the same affect it usually did. "Oh my god, you do! You like Bonnie!" I hissed with excitement as he quickly covered my mouth but I could still feel myself say it.

"I will snap your neck if this goes beyond this door" he whispered as I nodded. "Bonnie is a hard act to follow, I have Elena" he said as he moved his hand. Before I could say anything he opened the door and walked in, but he made sure I was following. I wanted to say more but Stefan and Jeremy were inside waiting for an update. "Aria will go to her room now, it's time for bed" he said half glancing at me.

"Um, you're not my father?" I told him as he grinned.

"No, I'm more like that dick older brother you always wanted" he replied.

"Just give us a minute Aria, please" Stefan in a much more gentle tone and with a light smile. I sighed but nodded, how could anyone say no to nice Stefan? Slowly, I walked back to my room, plopping on the bed as I tried to listen but my eyes were shutting as soon as I put my head on the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character.**

**Note: Glad so many of you are liking this. This scene takes place 4x4 and 4x5. Hope no one is too confused how this is going! Thanks again for the awesome reviews, so inspiring and makes me smile! Personally, I like this chapter, lots of room for laughs.**

_Through the Woods_

The next few days passed without much personal interest, Damon pretended our talk in the doorway never happened; which was fine considering how many other things seemed to happen. Bonnie ignored Damon entirely and Elena seemed to just continue whining. I knew there was some small talk about something, both Rebekah and Klaus had been here. "Hey" Stefan said peeking into my room about a week later. "Fancy a walk?" he asked as I arched an eyebrow at him.

"Only if you never use the word 'fancy' again" I teased as he gave me a little smile and held open the door so I could follow him out. "Where is everyone today?" I asked trying to think where we were in the TV show, after party Damon and Bonnie went back to see Professor Shane, Klaus visited, some dude came, Rebekah said something…but what was it?

"There's a cure to vampirism" Stefan said as soon as we stepped out of the house.

"Right, _that_" I said as I suddenly recalled Connor, the Hunter's mark, etc.

"Wait, you knew?" Stefan asked overly surprised.

"TV Show, remember?" I reminded him but he only seemed to frown.

"You should've told us" he said as I shrugged. I _wanted _to tell. I wanted to tell them everything but every time I got close to saying something I got an oddly cold sensation that was definitely not part of the show. Keeping to my room seemed to be the only way to keep things steady and balanced.

"I know, but I can't" I told him as he finally stopped frowning and nodded.

"So, you really know everything?" he asked as I nodded. "Even what did I last summer?" he asked. I started to reply but noticed he was grinning so instead I nudged him. "Be careful, you're egging on a vampire" he teased as I nudged him again. "Is Elena going to be okay?" he asked after a few minutes of absently walking. I shrugged again. Personally, I wanted to tell him how she turned into a humanity off vampire bitch, but I knew that would just keep making him want to help her. It would also mean I'd have to tell him why she turned it off to begin with.

"Did you know Damon likes Bonnie" I blurted out instead. To my complete and utter shock Stefan laughed. Well, chuckled. Still, it was a surprise.

"Damon will never admit it, but he needs Bonnie" he said as I nodded.

"Yes, yes he does and if you know why aren't you doing anything about it?" I asked feeling like I should be jumping up and down with glee.

"Because he's Damon; he wants what he wants. And he wants Elena" Stefan replied as I rolled my eyes but followed Stefan down a stoney path. "You can't make him do something he doesn't want to, you can't make him not go for someone—he'll only try harder" he explained.

"I know, trust me, it's annoying. That whole Sire thing…." I trailed off to shake my head as Stefan looked at me with surprise. "Oh c'mon you gotta know about that; they're sired because she had more of his blood in her system before she died. Then later it's decided that she just loves him for him and not because of the sire bond even though he's killed Jeremy like three times but she's able to get pass it because of love but can't get pass you being The Ripper" I said as Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Who's writing these scripts?" he asked as he wrinkled his nose.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed as we laughed. I started to nod and laugh again but noticed someone just out of sight move deeper into the woods. Still, I managed to see enough of him; tall, kind of older, bald headed black guy, angry. "Stefan…" I whispered as Stefan suddenly became more alert and rigid. "Has anyone mentioned a Connor?" I continued whispering.

"Yeah, is he here?" Stefan asked looking around as I nodded. "Come here," he whispered as he pulled me close. _Man, you smell good… _I thought to myself as Stefan raised an eyebrow to me stiffing his shirt but smirked anyway.

"Sorry," I mumbled as he nodded and then we were off. Speeding back toward the house. And then we stopped. I started to ask why, we weren't quite there yet but then Stefan fell over though I did try to grab him but he was already down. "Stefan, hey Stefan!" I said as I shook him but he only mumbled in pain. I looked over him, a dart sticking out of his side.

"Just my luck, two for the price of one." I whipped around to see Connor standing there. His gun pointed at my chest.

"Wait, I'm not a vampire!" I told him holding my hands up in defense.

"You're with one" he said nodding at Stefan.

"It's complicated" I replied as he narrowed his eye at me. "Look, I don't mean any—" I felt the dart go into my leg as I fell to the ground.

"I thought you weren't a vampire!" he shouted.

"You shot me in the leg with a dart! You think it's not going to hurt?" I shouted back as he walked closer. "I'm still not a vampire!" I exclaimed as he raised his gun at my head. "You're a hunter and I know you like killing vampires but I'm not one. I know where you can find some though," I started as he lowered his gun just slightly. "That way," I started pointed off in the opposite direction we had come. "If you just go pass the—" like a ninja I used my uninjured leg to kick one of his legs out from under him. He was quick to react and jump back up but had dropped his gun which I picked up and knocked him over with him and then hit him in the cheek with. "Martial Arts since I was six bitch" I told him right before knocking him unconscious with the handle of the gun.

"Aria…" I heard Stefan whisper as I turned my attention on him, gun still in hand. "Did he shot you?" he asked as I nodded. "Are you okay?" I nodded again. "Is he?" I smiled and showed him the gun. "Badass" he teased as he coughed again and then laid his head down.

"No, no, c'mon" I mumbled as I turned him over enough to pull out his cell phone. I quickly scrolled through this contacts until I found Damon; _so this was why none of them locked their phone? _I joked dryly to myself as it dialed out.

"Stefan, my brother, good to hear from you, you know, I thought—"

"Damon" I interrupted.

"Aria?" he responded with a little shock.

"No, Stefan turned into a chick," I hissed back sarcastically. "Help, that Connor hunter guy came and shot Stefan with stuff and now they're both unconscious" I said as I checked Stefan again.

"Wait, both?" he asked.

"I knocked Connor out with his own gun after he shot me in the leg" I told him as he made a sound that sounded like he was impressed.

"Pretty badass" he said. "Where are you?" he asked. I gave him directions, he mumbled a 'see you in a minute' and then hung up. Not that it did much but I managed to drag Stefan's body a few feet away from Connor and did a careful search on Connor, taking away a knife, a smaller gun and some wire. _Wire? _I asked frowning at it but then remembered the hybrids. As I sat with Stefan waiting I could only think how this did not happen in the TV Show. I was not part of this scene. No good could come from meddling in this. But at least Stefan knew Damon liked Bonnie; that was some kind of win, right? I wondered as Damon finally appeared.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character.**

**Note: So awesome you guys are continuing to check out my story, big hugs! Thanks for all the reviews, they mean so much! Happy reading!**

_They Don't Really Hate Each Other_

"It's okay, it's just water" Bonnie said appearing in in the door for a minute and then returning with a towel. "Don't worry about it" she said.

"Not that, I just, _this _is all real" I told her as she nodded.

"That's right Alice" she teased but I couldn't find it funny anymore. Sure the first few weeks seemed exciting living in a world of vampires, witches and werewolves but getting shot in the leg made me reconsider what I wanted in my fantasy world.

"How's Stefan?" I asked as Bonnie sat next to me on the bed.

"He's alright, it was just a large dose of vervain, I think you just passed out from all the excitement" she continued teasing. I had to smile, she was nice enough to bring me to her house.

"How's Connor?" I asked.

"Dead, Elena killed him and then…" she trailed off as she glanced me.

"Started having hallucinations because he's a hunter. Right" I said as she nodded. "Thanks for not being overly impressed" I said as laughed.

"Trust me, I _am _overly impressed, I'm just trying to be modest" she getting up and headed out as I followed her. "So, they just found out about the Sire Bond. Stefan told me aside you knew that too" she said as I nodded again.

"Things here seem to happen a lot quicker" I said though I already knew why. It was _real _life. "Bonnie," I said pausing as we entered the kitchen. "Do you hate vampires?" I asked, testing the waters first. She went over to the sink and rag the towel out.

"I don't _hate _them, I just, I'm not happy they exist" she said with her famous sideway smile.

"Do you hate Damon?" I asked as she seemed a little caught off guard by my question.

"I don't _like _Damon, he's not a nice person, he's way too self-centered and I still have doubts where his loyalties lay" she explained.

"He saved you once upon a time you know" I gently reminded her.

"He also killed my mom and grandma" she countered.

"You're grandma knew what that spell was going to do" I tried saying but stopped upon noticing one of the knives on the kitchen counter had started twitching. "Are you talking to that Professor Shane dude?" I asked her, just then remembering she had seen him, or was supposed to see him to have a go at some magic lessons and then her and Damon were supposed to learn about Silas.

"A little" she said defensively.

"Just be careful Bonnie" I told her as she gave me a funny look.

"Is there something I should know?" she asked. _There is so much you should know. _I said as a breeze flew in from an unopened window. _Yeah, because that's normal… _I thought as Bonnie and I both went over to the window, opening it up and looking around. I turned around first, half expecting to see someone there. I was a little surprised to see it was Shelia. She put her finger her lips as I felt my insides burning with a scream. "Let it play out my child" she said gently. "The consequences to unwritten events are just as painful as dying" she said and then she was gone.

"Aria?" Bonnie said whipping around and looking around her kitchen. "Are you okay? What did you see?" she asked as I waved her off, trying to catch my breath but realized there was no breath to catch. _Uh-oh. _I thought as I felt myself chocking. "Aria!" Bonnie said as she laid me down but I continued chocking.

"Fine, it plays out, it plays out" I coughed out as whatever had been chocking me stopped. I gluped in air as I turned on my stomach and started coughing harder.

"Aria!" Bonnie said wrapping her arms around me. _Great, I was that helpless character. Great, I was turning into the human Elena. _I thought morbidly as Bonnie released me.

"I have to get out of here" I told her as I jumped up and ran out of the house.

It was only after I ran some distance from Bonnie's house did I realize how close to nightfall it was getting. "I think the stupid is finally rubbing off on me…" I thought sarcastically as I continued walking around. At least I was safe from Conner. I headed in what I assumed was the direction of the Salvatore house. I wanted to check on Stefan. "Aria!" I heard Bonnie call out. _Seriously?_ I exclaimed in my head as I ran a little, trying to put some distance between myself and her. Not that I didn't appreciate her help, I just didn't see the point in talking to her—anyone—if I wasn't going be doing anything beneficial, if I couldn't help them.

"See, this why I kept you locked up in our house" I heard Damon said as I collided with him.

"No you don't understand, I can't be here, I'm not supposed to be here" I told him as I scooted backwards though honestly, it was getting me nowhere.

"Bonnie, I found her!" he shouted as Bonnie's footsteps grew louder and then she appeared.

"Thank goodness, she chocked and then ran out of the house, I thought she was possessed" Bonnie said walking over to me.

"Stop being so worried, she did save Stefan" he said though it didn't sound like he was giving me a compliment. "How's the witchy magic training going? Any chance you wanna try a little practice on little Miss Runs Through the Woods" Damon asked as I glared at him.

"Be nice" Bonnie said as waved at her in agreement.

"Why? We don't know her; she could be a vampire hunter or a witch hunter" he said trying to speak low but it seemed to do no good.

"I doubt that" Bonnie said crossing her arms over chest as Damon snorted at her.

"Time traveler?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Wrong show buddy" I said sarcastically as Damon sighed.

"Nonetheless, she's with me tonight, again" Damon said as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. _My god he was an asshole. _I thought as Bonnie hit him in the chest.

"She's not a toy you just drag around, god Damon, what is wrong with you?" I wondered if Damon noticed how sad her voice sounded at the end. Like she knew he was a jerk and wanted anything _but_ that. "And you wonder why no likes you" she snapped at him when he didn't put me down. I thought she was going to say more but she stormed off.

"_This _is why I don't get to be with her" he whispered as I tried not focusing on the blood rushing to my head. "Besides Elena loves me" he added but he must have knew I was rolling my eyes. "It's something, I get _something_, finally" he explained.

"So you rather pick the scraps than go for the real thing?" I asked as I felt my hair swinging.

"Hurts less, I mean, can you imagine what being Bonnie's boyfriend would be like?" he asked.

"Jeremy's doing a pretty good job" I reminded him but he ignored me. "Stefan knows" I quietly added as I felt him jerk me to the left.

"Drop it, it's not gonna happen kid" he said as he jerked me to right.

"Just because it might not happen doesn't mean the feelings go away" I countered and again he didn't respond. "She might like you too" I tried saying cheerfully but Damon only snorted.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked from up ahead.

"Oh nothing, lightweight here thinks you love me" he said sarcastically though I did applaud his boldness. He put me down as we neared the house and though he happened to walk pass without looking at Bonnie when I looked over I could see the tiniest expression in her eyes of longing. Quickly though it disappeared as she saw me looking at her. Her expression now almost pleading 'don't tell.' I made several weird hand gestures to which she only rolled her eyes at but then shook her head.

"I'm going back to my house. Call if you need anything, take care of her, Damon" she insisted as Damon waved her off. I grumbled in annoyance, _why? Why did the only two strong equally balanced characters who secretly loved each other have to be so freaking stubborn? Why? _I wondered as I reluctantly followed Damon into the house.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own character.**

**Note: (LadyAlchemy- deal.) Takes place right before 4x8...which will be coming up next. I know some people will especially love this chapter (I'm talking to you Justreader13). Everyone I didn't mention-THANK YOU! You all are awesome for reading this story. You definitely help push it along! **

_Guilty Pleasures Revealed_

Before Damon could stop me I ran around the house until I found Stefan—surprisingly enough he was in his room. "You're okay!" I said wrapping my arms around him.

"Yeah, heard you got knocked out for a few days" he said as he sat back on his bed.

"Either I'm locked up or unconscious" I told him as he laughed and patted the spot next to him. "So, even though I told you about the Sire Bond did you react like you would've had I not told you?" I asked as he sort of tried to smile.

"He's still substituting for Katherine you know, I really do believe that" he said as I absently nodded; I _wanted _to be that.

"And your obsession for her comes from where exactly?" I asked as he nudged me.

"Thanks for saving my ass" he said as I shrugged.

"You did the same for me when I jumped off the bridge" I reminded him. "So, are you okay?" I asked tilting my head a little.

"In a way I wish it wasn't the Sire Bond, I wish she really did love him," he paused to shake his head before I could protest. "If she loved him it would give me reason enough to walk away, to stop helping her" he said as I half rolled my eyes.

"Stefan, you're going to forever be devoted to that girl" I told as he wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Nothing stops me?" he asked in slight disappointed as I shook my head. "Does she hurt me?" he asked as I cleared my throat but didn't respond. "Do I _get_ hurt?" he asked instead, still I remained silent. "You gotta tell me something, you can't just pop in here and expect us not to be curious and ask questions and wonder about our future" he explained, his voice a little pained.

"I know you're upset, I get that Stefan, but," I paused to cautiously look around. Then again, just because you couldn't see a ghost didn't mean they couldn't hear you. "Shelia—"

"Bonnie's grandmother?" he asked with the wrinkle of the eyebrows again as I nodded.

"She warned me not to spin things out of place" I told him as he seemed to wrinkle his eyebrows even more. "Would you stop doing that!" I said as I smoothed his eyebrows and the crease in his forehead. When I pulled my hands away he was making an amused face.

"Alright, I won't ask any more questions if Shelia is preventing it" he said as he continued staring at me. I smiled back. _Oh! Oh no, no, no no. _My brain jumped as I nearly fell of the bed.

"So, aren't you curious about the TV show?" I asked trying to look like my momentarily seizure like spams weren't a big deal and sound as causal as possible.

"I know how TV works" he said with a shrug as he got up too and started randomly adjusting things on his dresser. "Maybe you should go with Bonnie to visit Professor Shane, he might know something on this" he said as I shook my head.

"I don't trust that guy" was all I could manage to say. If I couldn't bluntly say anything I would work twice as hard to change things. I probably should've let Damon stop Bonnie from meeting Shane in the first place. Yes, I wanted her to have her magic back, but it was going to cost her. So much.

"Do you trust any of us?" he asked as I turned around to face him.

"In what respect?" I asked as he shrugged. "You know," I started now playing with some coins on the other dresser as I decided to switch topics. "I always rooted for Bonnie and Damon" I paused to look at Stefan who was trying not to look too agreeable. "I know, I know, _why?_ They're a power team, Bamon—as the fans call it" I said nodding at Stefan whose eyebrow had shot up in surprise. "Bamon—Bonnie and Damon…is growing in popular among because people are realizing they're two strong individuals who don't put up with each other's crap" I explained.

"What about Elena and I?" he asked as I noticed once again that sad expression.

"You make her happy, I truly believe she loved you at some point. But," I paused to stretch my head. "People fall out of love" I concluded. It wasn't much, but, it was something. It was simple.

"Do you think Damon and Bonnie would be happy if they were…er, _Bamon…_?" he asked as I smirked at his testing of the word. "I mean Jeremy isn't just, _gone_, I'm sure…Bermy has lots of potential" he said as I laughed this time. "Since Bonnie and I are friends and I care for well-being does that make us a _Btefan_." I was giggling even before he finished, he seemed to smile a little wider at this.

"Okay, you're done," I told him as I made the mistake of looking at him. "Secondly, it's Stefonnie, I think" I said trying to recall the last bit on that I had looked up. He gave a little laugh.

"I still think you should see Professor Shane, just once, he might be able to help you" he said as he grabbed a clean shirt as he started removing the one he had on.

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked suddenly feeling awkward and shy.

"It's just a shirt" he said as he turned away and continued switching clothes. It was extremely difficult to avert my eyes. Sure Damon had the hair and the eyes and sarcastic mouth but _Stefan_…I shook my head as I tried not to get lost in thought. "Klaus will be here and he doesn't even need to know you exist so you're going with Damon to the lake house" he said as he finished.

"I'm a big girl, I took a hunter, remember?" I said as he balled up his shirt and tossed it aside.

"Yep, I remember, but," he glanced out the door but no one appeared to be there. "How else are we supposed to make Bamon happen if we don't have an inside woman on the lookout?" he whispered with a smirk and arched eyebrow.

"Stefan Salvatore, look at you, being all James Bond" I said as he laughed. "Wait, the _lake house_?" I said as Stefan nodded. "No, Jeremy is there and then Bonnie and Shane show up, they remember they want each other" I said recalling the scene.

"So, cause a distraction, you don't trust Shane, make it obvious" Stefan replied.

"I would, but, Jeremy wants to kill Elena, remember?" I reminded him. "Can't I stay here and help you?" I asked feeling a little put out.

"Klaus is dangerous, I don't him anywhere near you," he paused to give me a gentler look. "If you want to help, go there, report back. Technically if you're reporting on what you're seeing and _I _personally act off that you're not interfering; Shelia can't stop you" he said as I slowly smiled in understanding.

"You're good…" I said as he shrugged pretending it was nothing. "I'll do it" I added as he handed me one of his coats.

"This is going to be the start to a wonderful Stefia" he teased as I nudged him.

"I'm pretty sure it's Arian, A before S, duh" I teased back as I headed out of his room. "Damon! Damon, I'm coming with you to the lake house! Damon!" I shouted as I hurried down the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters.**

**Note: originally this chapter had more Bonnie in it, but then I thought of something else which will help later. I also wanted to make a point of how Damon feels. This is based off episode 4x11. Don't worry Bamon fans, you get an OD later on (soon) =) Thanks for sticking with me! Hope you're enjoying the story so far!**

_Vampires are Bastards_

"Stay" Damon said as we pulled into the driveway.

"I will stab you with a stick if I have to" I told him as I got out of the car anyway.

"You know, if there was something bad around here and it jumped out it would go after you first, and because you refuse to listen, I hope it eats you" he said as he continued toward the house. "So, you got Stefan to laugh at a time like this, pretty impressive" he said as we reached the door. I nodded as Jeremy came over to let us in. "Aria, Jeremy, Jeremy, Aria" he said nodding as I shook his hand. He was definitely a lot hotter in person. The messy brown hair, the muscular arms. I could see why Bonnie went for him. On the other hand…I trailed off my thinking as I watched Damon and Jeremy glare at each other. "People actually _like _watching this?" Damon asked looking back at me as I tried not to laugh at his or Jeremy's expression as I nodded.

"Competition, people like seeing—" I trailed as I remembered Jeremy didn't know about Damon and Bonnie and as far as Damon was concerned he wasn't going to know.

"I have a phone call, brb" Damon said sarcastically as he stepped away from us.

"Has he driven you mad yet?" Jeremy asked as we walked in and he handed me a soda.

"Still a bit new to all this actually" I said as he nodded and hoped on the counter.

"Favorite part?" he asked as I shrugged but looked around thinking anyway.

"I haven't seen much action. I knocked out a hunter but since then they keep isolated, too much excitement" I said as he laughed.

"Bonnie's been taking of you though, you're in good hands" he said as he slightly looked off. I started nod in agreement but then remembered Bonnie deserved better.

"Have you thought of how much you hurt Bonnie?" I asked point blank. As expected Jeremy blinked at me a few times. "I don't mean to be rude, but, you know, everyone knows about that whole Anna thing, kinda sucks for Bonnie" I said with a shrug.

"Our whole lives are just broadcasted like that?" he asked with annoyance as I nodded. "Why would anyone want this to be a show?" he asked as Damon appeared at the doorway again.

"Because we're irresistible" Damon teased—I think—as he came in and searched the fridge. "So, how's the training going?" he asked. I wandered into the next room, leaving the boys to talk. Nothing was wrong with them talking. Damon went out to make a phone call, he probably called Elena where she admitted she wanted him and instead of doing the right thing and pushing her away—thus breaking the Sire Bond—he welcomed her. Yes it did help Jeremy from wanting to continue killing his sister but, personally, I wouldn't have minded.

I turned my attention to the kitchen upon hearing another male voice. _Matt. _I thought excitedly as I went back into the kitchen. "There is she" Damon said as I shot him a glare.

"I'm Aria" I said politely sticking out my hand as Matt nodded and gently shook. He was my favorite, kind, gentle, sweet, sincere. He was a good guy. Truly.

"So you're the one who knows all about our lives?" he said with an uneasy laugh.

"I don't know everything" I said trying to sound like I meant it. It was true though, had I not seen it in person I never would have guessed Bonnie and Damon liked each other.

"Alright, stay here, please. We're going to start training" he said as I nodded. I had no desire to watch or help. Besides I needed to be on the lookout for that pizza chick. Klaus had turned her at some point and then Jeremy attacked her. I wondered around the kitchen, mostly thinking, again, about my purpose was here. I couldn't merely just watch on. I had to help, or at least act like I belonged.

What I thought might have been a few hours later turned into several hours later. Occasionally Damon would pause to check his phone or Matt would take a pizza. Every attempt I made to talk to the pizza chick was in vain, Damon had a thing about me disappearing twenty feet from his sight. "What the hell? Seriously, I do not like being treated like a child!" I shouted at him as he followed me to the water.

"I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you. Bonnie's orders. She said if anything happens to you I will suffer. I don't like suffering" he said as he sat down next to me.

"You just don't want to let Bonnie down for the thousandth time" I grumbled.

"Aria, have you ever been in love with someone who is definitely not in love with you?" he asked, much to my surprise.

"No" I said as I laughed at his expression.

"Bonnie is…fantastic. She's this brilliantly talented witch who never gives a second thought to helping her friends no matter the cost. I've only seen her scared once. I helped her through that. I got to hold her" he paused as he stared off at the water. "I miss that and as much as I want that with her, I can't have it. I eventually realized I have Elena, I want Elena for whatever reason. Maybe she looks like Katherine, maybe she's a weak h—vampire who needs my help. I don't know. My point, again, I can't get Bonnie so I need to stop trying." I made a face as he finished talking.

"When have you tried?" I asked as he rolled his eyes and stood up. "C'mon, we have pizza" he said cheerfully, as if nothing else had happened. I started to follow him back to the house, but something out of sight caught my eye. "_Shit…_" I whispered as I noticed a blonde chick in the distance. I grabbed the nearest lose stick and ran after her as she neared the house, I knew she wasn't going to be able to enter but if I could stop those events I could stop the events in the bar. Which in turn would stop Damon from being stupid and Elena from reacting and Stefan and Bonnie from ignoring all of them. Yes, this is a good idea, I thought as I sunk up on the unsuspecting new vampire.

She spun around but I moved first out of fright and quick reaction I felt the stick hit her chest. She stiffened and then fell. I remained still, _holy shit. I just killed a vampire. It was _that _easy to kill a vampire? _I thought as I stared down at her.

"Impressive" I spun around to see a skinny guy standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. The only disarming thing about him was his British accent. "Now, who are you exactly?" he asked as I noticed a gas tank in one hand and a lighter in the other. "Oh you're probably wondering what this is all about" he said as I continued staring at the items. "It's like the candy from a stranger trick. I show you my wonderful candy and you step away from the house…or I burn the house down" he said overly cheerful. I held my hands up, there was no way I was going to try and karate chop a vampire. "Let's take a little walk, shall we?" he asked and then without warning he grabbed my arm and we were off.

Even before I knew where we were going, I knew where we were going. As suddenly as he had picked me up he pushed me into a room. I looked around, it was too still, too quiet; a pool table, dim lights, the bar. My eyes widened as my brain registered the scene. "I know Jeremy is a bit apprehensive about this killing thing, so, I figured Damon could convince him to push a little harder with a little help from you" the vampire said as he pushed me back even before I realized I was trying to make a move for the door. "Don't worry, they've already had their human blood, they just need to wake up and smell some more" he said as he pushed me back so hard I hit against the pool table; I could feel the cut and the blood without looking. The vampire smiled in satisfaction as he opened the doors, and stood on the other side. I ran over but he had already closed the door, only leaving a little crack. "Name's Kol," he said then pulled out his phone. "Damon, I believe your new bestie about to die, I'll be sure to send flowers, you can pick her body up at—" he clicked the phone off. "Oopsie, lost connection" he said hauntingly with a wicked smile as he moved further and further back until he was out of sight.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character.**

**Note: Sooooooo happy you guys like this! Sorry for the delayed update, I've been having connection issues.**

_Happy Hour_

_Great, just terrific, I was going to die on a TV Show. My favorite TV Show. Really, it wasn't even my favorite. Top five maybe, but not number one. Good lord what am I thinking about? I'm about to die! _I thought angrily to myself as I spun around looking at the motionless bodies. _Okay, they're not awake yet, they don't know I'm here. Of course they know I'm here, they smell my blood. _I reminded myself as I looked down at my cut arm. At least it stopped bleeding, I wasn't going to need stitches. Maybe. If I survived. If I survived I would do a whole lot of things. I would kick Elena's ass for one. They were going through all this trouble to get the cure for her. Why was she so important? Why did I have to die to make that whiny brat happy? Sure there were a few things that could led to this being _my _fault but who was really going to point that out?

I shivered as I looked for somewhere to hide. Being attacked by vampires was not exactly the way I wanted to go. Imagine how that would look anyway. In the papers. My parents. Oh no, my parents. My poor parents. I thought as I found the coat closet and stuffed myself in between some coats. My parents were probably worried about me. Unless of course this was a dream, in which case I needed to wake up. _Now. _I thought as I shut my eyes tight. Or maybe this was more like Narnia. That's usually how things happened, right? But in Narnia you could die. I peeked out from my hiding place, some the vampires on the pool table were stirring, confused looking, tired. And they were all going to die. Just for some stupid hunter's mark. I felt myself stifle a sob. I shook my head and leaned back into the coats, they smelled kind of musky but I only pushed myself further in when I heard more moaning and moving about. _Shit, shit, shit. _I thought as shoved my face into one of the coats. Maybe I'd just suffocate myself and die that way, but the loom fate I was about to endure.

Just when I didn't think it could get worse, or better, I heard movement closer, just outside of the coat closet. Someone must have been putting their coat away when they got attacked. _Stupid Kol,_ I thought angrily as I shifted myself to try and listen better. The person moved again as they made a weird sound. No, they were sniffing the air. They could smell me. I waited for the predicted moment, glass breaking, a head being removed for the shoulder, an arrow going into someone's chest. But none of that happened. There was no Jeremy, no Damon, not even Matt. Maybe I had to be caught in order for this recusing business to work. Then again, with this many vampires there was a very slim chance of being rescued. Then, something did happen. A buzzing nose sounded and then _like _breaking glass a sound pierced the air, a terrible displeasing unwelcoming sound that could be described as a ringtone. Slowly, with shaking hands—knowing all too well it was too late—I reached in the pocket of coat Stefan had lent me, pulling out some fancy smartphone. _When the fuck did he put this in here? _I wondered as I stared at the phone, Bonnie's name popping up. "Hello?" I whispered.

"Hey, I just got to the lake house with Shane. Stefan told me he left one of his old phones in the jacket pocket, glad you got. Anyway, where are you? Damon said you were by the water but I don't see you" she said as I cursed myself. _Where the hell was she like twenty minutes ago? _I wondered as I half rolled my eyes, the movement around continuing as I pressed as far back as I could.

"I'm a little busy right now, but um," I paused to look around, the top of the coat rack, the pole part, was already weak. It looked like it was metal though. Wasn't wood but at a time like this could I really afford to be picky? I thought as I started tugging at the pole.

"Listen, I know you're still, you know, weirded about all this, and I'm sorry I snapped at you about Damon, I mean, I don't hate him but, do I _like _him? I mean, he's an asshole and inappropriate among many other things. I could pop his head off but I haven't—"

"Bonnie, I gotta go…" I said noticing some of the vampires slowly start to approach me.

"I know, I know, you're freaked, I'm sorry. It's not your problem; are you going to back soon? The boys are going into town, there's a bar—"

"Full of new vampires?" I interrupted as I heard a long pause.

"How did you know?" she asked, a little more surprised than I expected.

"Oh, you know, a hunch" I said as I finally pulled down the pole.

"Where is she? Is that her?" I heard Damon's voice ask there was some muffled arguing and then I assumed Bonnie huffing as Damon took her phone. "Please, please, _please _tell me you are in a safe bar having a pink fruity drink and not at the bar Kol left me a message about" he said as I heard Bonnie gasp.

"Well…" I started as I swung the pole, knocking the closest vampire in the head completely on accident though doing no real damage as he stumbled back and then looked at me with curiosity and sudden hunger. "On the plus side, I did not wander off by myself. That's a win, right?" I asked swinging the pole, this time to prevent another vampire from moving closer.

"Damnit Aria" he mumbled before the muffled arguing between Damon and Bonnie begin. I would've thought of something cute but faced with a real life danger it really wasn't easy. The line went dead but I only shoved the phone back in my pocket. _Why did I not think to check there before?_ I wondered as I glanced over at the counter. Wait. Bars had alcohol, alcohol was flammable. I searched my pockets but of course Stefan wouldn't carry a lighter and then I searched random pockets of the fallen coats. "Aha!" I said as I grabbed a purple lighter out of one of light weight sweater jackets.

Without much thought I swung the pole again and ran. Jumping up on the pool table, running across it and jumping over to the counter. I let out a surprised scream upon noticing a bartender starting to stir. Again, as if it was almost natural I shoved the metal pole into his back. He made a gurgling nose and then fell. Unconscious of course, not dead. I grabbed the first bottle my hands touched, took a swing for nerves and luck and held it out for the vampires to see. "Yeah, fire" I said as they sort of stopped to watch. "You burn in fire" I told them with a sort of victory smile.

"So do you" one of the vampires near the pool table countered.

"Touché" I said as I felt myself tense a little. _Vampires, one, me, nothing. _Still, I had to try. If I died several things could happen, for one I'd be out of here; that was sort of starting to look like a good option at the moment. Feeling shaky and under confident I held the lighter out, flicking it once, twice, three times. _"Seriously?"_ I exclaimed as one of the other vampires snickered and they started moving forward. I grumbled and tried again, but nothing happen.

"You can't get rid of us that easily" said a big looking bouncer type guy. My eyes shifted around, finally stopping at something on the other end of the room.

"I can't, but he can" I said with a little smirk as the bouncer guy turned around first, Jeremy jumping off the pool table and cutting the guy's head clear off. I felt myself release whatever air I had been holding in as Jeremy continued his slicing and dicing. Even if I didn't care for him, he knew how to fight and he looked while doing it.

"Aria, move!" he shouted as I jumped over the bartender just as Jeremy threw one of the vampires across the room, smashing into the bottles of alcohol. "Lighter!" he shouted.

"But it's empty!" I shouted back as he stabbed a vampire getting too closer.

"Give me the lighter!" he shouted again. Reluctantly I threw it across the room, Jeremy catching it instantly, smacking a vampire aside and then flicking the lighter, the small flame never looking brighter. _No, no of course_ he _gets it to light. _I thought in annoyance as Jeremy lit a stick he had gotten from somewhere and threw it toward the now broken and spilled alcohol bottles behind the counter. I just opened my mouth to scream wait but I felt a breeze next to me.

"I am _so_ close to strapping you to a bed" Damon said as he picked me up and zoomed out, just as Jeremy ran after us.

"Come on!" I heard Bonnie shout. And then, as predicted_, finally. Boom! _


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Note: Another chapter! Thanks for continuing to read, comment, adding to favorites, etc. You all are wonderful people.**

_Chapter 11: Acting Out & Being Pissed_

"How could you let this happen?" Bonnie shouted at Damon as soon as we all managed to get ourselves together. "God Damon, you get one responsibility, just one!" she continued shouting.

"Bonnie, stop yelling, it's okay" I said as I pulled myself out of the grass, the ringing still in both my ears as her voice sounded distant.

"I was wrong about you, I thought you could help but you can't, you don't do anything useful!" she continued shouting as I watched Jeremy bring himself to attention.

"Maybe if she didn't wander—"

"That's not the point Damon!" she shouted back interrupting

"Stop, please" I shouted at both of them as I watched Bonnie glare at Damon though Damon didn't seem to be doing anything about it. "Listen, I'm sorry, the pizza delivery chick was a vampire and I didn't want her to hurt you" I explained looking at Jeremy and Damon.

"That shouldn't be your job" Bonnie said turning on me, her hair was messy but she continued brushing it out of the way as she talked. "He shouldn't have even let you out of the house" she said.

"I'm not helpless, I didn't die in there" I reminded her and she sucked in air. "Bonnie, c'mon, I'm not a little girl. I know you're helping and I really appreciate that but, I have to watch myself" I told her as she shook her head and walked away from our little group.

"If you can't protect her how are you supposed to protect any of us? How are you supposed to help Jeremy?" she asked as she waved a hand at him. _Great, she still wanted him. _

"Bon, it's okay, I got this, it's okay" Jeremy replied as he went over to her, speaking low so neither Damon nor I could hear.

"Can you hear them?" I asked Damon as the two moved a little further away.

"I'm not trying to" he said as he started to walk away.

"Hey, wait a second, I'm sorry, Damon" I said hurrying after him. "Damon!" I shouted as he finally turned on me, his face a little angry.

"Come on, I'm taking you back to Stefan" he said grabbing my arm.

"No, I'm staying here, I need to make sure you and Bonnie make up" I told him as he continued dragging me. "Damon, let go," I told trying to pull away. "You and Bonnie have to make up" I repeated.

"We don't make up Aria, we're not like that, and obviously you being around is certainly not going to help" he said as I tried pulling away again.

"Let go!" I shouted at him, this time hoping Bonnie heard.

"Damon, hey, what are you doing?" Bonnie asked running over to us. Damon rolled his eyes as he looked from me to her.

"I'm done with baby-sitting" he told her as she let out a heavy sigh.

"C'mon, I'll bring you back; Shane is still at the house" she told me as Damon let go. _Shane? Um, no? _I told myself as I reluctantly followed her anyway.

"Bonnie" I said as we slowly walked back. "What you said about Damon, on the phone, you do like him, don't you?" I asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and continued walking.

"I like Jeremy" she replied, trying to sound like she meant it.

"He cheated on you," I reminded her as she tried not to make an obvious twitch. "With his dead ex" I added as she twitched again. "Damon would never cheat on you, he'd be devoted forever" I told her as she ignored me and continued walking. "Damon cares about you Bonnie" I blurted out as she stopped but didn't turn around. _Well, here goes nothing… _I thought as I took a deep breath. "He likes you; but, he knows he doesn't deserve you and that you don't want him—"

"Of course I don't want him, do you know what he is?" she exclaimed as she turned around waving her arms. "He's a vampire!"

"Yeah, pretty much everyone is Bonnie. Your best friends, you're ex's sister, Stefan, hell your mom is a vampire. We both know they're not all that bad. That chick Lexi and Caroline are alright. Your ex's exes were all vampire" I reminded her.

"But they weren't Damon" she said in a tone I couldn't clarify.

"Damon's a jerk, but, he treats you alright, you two are badass together. You sorta tame him. I mean, he knows what you can do if he gets too far out of hand" I explained.

"Elena loves him" she said, her voice almost reaching disappointment. "He loves Elena" she said with a shrug as I rolled my eyes.

"The Sire Bond, that's all that is. She still wants Stefan and especially since the universe and nature want them together because of Sil—" I cut myself off realizing what I was saying as my eyes grew bigger. "Shit" I finished.

"What about Silas?" she asked but I shook my head.

"You know Silas?" another voice said. We both turned our attention to Professor Shane, he wasn't awful looking, but because of everything I already knew about him and all the things he did to get the cure I wasn't a fan. "Hi, I'm Professor Shane" he said sticking out a hand but I only blinked at him.

"This is Aria" Bonnie said for me as she nudged me a little.

"You know about Silas?" he asked as I nodded, a plan forming in my mind. Maybe I could get Shane out of the way but still enable them to get the cure without Jeremy dying. I knew more than Shane, more than any of them. I wasn't supposed to skew things off track but no one said I couldn't accelerate things or make Shane disappear. Maybe even appear as a quack.

"Sure do" I said as Bonnie looked at me with surprise.

"Well, what do you know?" Shane asked, almost in a defensive but condescending tone.

"I know he's an immortal being that carries the cure to vampirism and he wants to get to the other side to rejoin his true love after she was killed by his 'best friend.'" I explained using air quotes. Shane's eyes grew a little wider but he quickly regained himself as he nodded and smiled.

"Are you a witch too?" he asked. _I wish, I could burn you right now. _

"No, we're still working that bit out" Bonnie replied. "Shane is going to help us; Jeremy killed a few vampires so we should have more of the mark soon.

"Great, I'm sure he'll be a great asset" I said giving Shane my best mischievous grin as he nodded again and we continued walking. I couldn't hear much but I knew Shane was whispering, I did catch the tail end. "Do you think you should really trust her?" I smiled, that was exactly what I hoped he'd say. He meant he didn't trust me which mean he'd try and eliminate me. Of course as I predicted Bonnie waved him off, glancing back at me as I gave her a warm smile.

"She's fine Shane" she whispered back as I smirked just as Shane glanced back. He narrowed his eyes, he certainly didn't trust me now. Bonnie did though and she'd never let Shane hurt me—she'd tell everyone to protect me—which in turn meant Damon because in their own really twisted logic they both liked each other and whatever Bonnie needed Damon knew he couldn't fail her. Not again. I saw the look he gave her as she yelled at him. It was the same one I saw every time Elena picked Stefan over him, only now it looked more real. More believable. Every time Bonnie _didn't _pick him he messed up a little more because he was so mad at himself for disappointing her. _Well, as long as I was involved I would not let that happen_, I thought happily as we approached the lake house.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Note: I know it skips around a little and it might seem confusing to some, but remember, it's Aria's fault. Enjoy the chapter! Continue to review and read! =) **

_Chapter 12: Locked Up_

"What happened?" I said as I ran into the Salvatore house. After we got back to the lake house we waited around, Bonnie took a nap and I spent the time staring at Shane from various places in the room. I was certain he felt uncomfortable, he twitched a lot and cleared his throat and looked away but he never said anything. It was sort of funny. But when Bonnie woke up he acted as if noting was awkward and instead took us to dinner. The gesture annoyed me more than anything, he was trying to earn as much points from Bonnie as he could. Why? I did not know, maybe so when he later cornered me he would have a good reason for murdering me, she'd 'understand.'

"It's okay, they're all okay" Stefan said as I ran over to hug him. "They're back" he said.

"I don't care about them, I'm asking about you" I told him as he let out a low sigh and hugged me back. After our dinner I had several missed calls and three voicemails. The first was Stefan telling us not to come back—had I gotten it then I would've ran back—because they were locked in the school with Elena, Caroline, Tyler and Rebekah. The second was a brief message saying they were out and okay. The third something about Damon getting shot in the head and wanting to kill Jeremy but how they were safe now and Damon was locked up for the time being. I instantly deleted it. I didn't care about Jeremy and Damon was an idiot.

"I'm okay, I just—" he cut himself off as Elena peeked around the corner. I rolled my eyes and stood on the other side of Stefan, out of the way.

"Can I help you?" he asked her as she worryingly looked from the door to Stefan.

"I was just going to check on Damon…" she said quietly. I rolled me eyes. How could it _not_ be the Sire Bond? I mean, what human being—vampire in this case—was stupid enough to check on their supposed loved one after telling their other supposed loved one that they didn't love them anymore. In so many ways Elena was just the never ending problem here in Mystic Falls.

"I can't let you do that, he'll just ask you to let him out" Stefan replied without feeling.

"No I won't, you know—" she paused I assumed to look at me. Stefan did the same, noticing I was moving my lips along with them.

"Sorry…" I said as I turned away.

"I won't let him out" Elena continued.

"You'll have no choice because of the Sire Bond" he said, still his tone unaffected.

"Stefan, I get it, you're hurt and you're reacting, you're blaming me" she said slowly as if really not knowing what the problem was.

"No, this is me" Stefan replied. I sort of flinched at his words. This _was _him. He was the Ripper, he was cold and cruel, the real tortured soul. Elena had made him better, but now, now she was just going to slowly destroy him. She made Damon better too—sort of, he still acted like a dick—but she changed Stefan in all the good ways. Now she was just leaving him. "You've just never seen me like this, you don't know what I look like when I'm not in love with you" he said coldly as Elena's face sort of twisted into a really hurt look. _Good, _I thought with a little snort. "I'll tell Damon you stopped by" he concluded, ending the conversation. Elena, still looking overwhelming sad walked off.

"Cold much?" I said as I turned back to Stefan; he half shrugged as he ran his hand along the wall. "Do you actually mean it?" I asked as he continued to run his fingers along the wall but didn't reply. "Okay, well, I know this is the silence part where you mop and brood and regret your decision to sleep with Rebekah so I'm going back over to Bonnie's with Professor Creepy, call when you feel better" I said as I started to walk away but Stefan grabbed my arm.

"How is she?" he asked as I turned back to face him, surprised at the concern in his voice instead of the question or anger he should've felt when I mentioned knowing he slept with Rebekah. "When she heard about the Sire Bond; I mean, I know she'll never…" he paused to lower his voice, moving us a little further into the living room. "I know she'll never admit it, but, you should've seen her expression when she found out. I think that was just the excuse they needed not to purse each other" he explained as I nodded, completely in agreement.

"Now that Professor Scares A-lot is with her and Jeremy's getting the mark and Elena is sired it's gonna be hard convincing the two they want each other" I said as he nodded and leaned against the wall. "I mean, the most I can do is mess with Shane and get him to try and murder me" I paused as I watched a wave of concern spread across Stefan's face. "He already lacks trust in me and we both know that's a huge mistake with Bonnie. If she trust me, she's going to protect me, right?" I asked as he nodded.

"We all will, especially Damon knowing he needs to please Bonnie—even if he thinks it's because it's what Elena would want" he replied as I nodded this time.

"Exactly" I said as we heard low moaning. I followed Stefan back to the door, we both peeked in to see Damon slowly waking up. "Hey sleepy head" I teased as he half glared at me.

"Quick, throw her in too; at least I know she won't get hurt" Damon said as he cautiously stood up but only managed to get half way up and then sat back down.

"You might hurt her" Stefan replied as Damon leaned his head back against the wall.

"Please, so not worth my time. Besides, have you seen her action? She runs into danger just bending over to tie her shoe" he said as I snorted.

"Oh looks like the witty asshole side is back" I said as he raised an eyebrow at me, probably surprised I was able to be so blunt with him. From the distance I could hear the door open, footsteps and then Klaus appeared.

"Hello mate" he cheerfully as he approached the door to the room where Damon was without even looking around.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Damon asked as he glanced out at Klaus who only smirked in satisfaction. He opened his mouth to reply but our eyes meet. I smiled and waved as if nothing was amiss, he only narrowed his eyes at me.

"And who might you be love?" he asked. Okay, okay, so Klaus was evil, Kol was evil, but _damn_ their accents were sexy; and neither of them were ugly. Klaus was a bit cuter than his brother, but maybe that because he was less homicidal? _For now._

"None of your business, she was just leaving" Damon said as I shot Stefan the smallest grin. "Stefan brought her over, figured I might like the company or a snack, but, you should go now," Damon said as he gave me a hard look. I started to say something sarcastic but realized I was supposed to be pretending I was compelled.

"Uh, yeah, it's time for me to go" I said as I stared back at Damon. _Was this convincing enough?_

"Well, it seems Stefan is on a roll tonight, first Rebekah, now this beautiful young lady. I heard breakups are hard but you certainly make it look easy" Klaus said as I felt the urge to glare but Damon's expression was practically screaming at me to shut up.

"Go, forget everything you saw" he said as I turned away and walked off, not even glancing back at Stefan or waving bye to Klaus. As soon as I had closed the door behind me I let out a sigh of relief, at least the shows taught me _something. _I thought as I made my way to Bonnie's. Wasn't she was supposed to be meeting her dad soon. I had to make sure _that _didn't happen. A completely pointless scene. She did what she wanted anyway. Maybe I could go back and guilt trip her and make Shane feel uncomfortable again. I smirked, yes, that what I'd do. Then I'd come back check on Damon. It was long now before the cure action took place. Kol just had to die. Which was totally fine with me.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Aria.**

**Note: Sorry for the obnoxious delay, this is harder than it looks but all your lovely positive comments keep this story moving right along, thanks for sticking with me. You guys are awesomeee. **

_**Snack Break (between episodes 4x12 and 4x13)**_

I woke with a start, I looked around, sleep still in my eyes as I got my bearings together. Right, Bonnie's living room couch. Vampire Diaries was real. Vampires and witches and those other supernaturals do exist. I thought as I sat up, now rubbing my hands together as if cold. "Bonnie! I'm awake" I said as I got up and looked around the room but saw no Bonnie. Wow, people were really proactive around here, I thought to myself as I wandered into the kitchen, my phone buzzing in my pocket.

_Whatca doin? _

I smiled as I looked over Stefan's text and then started randomly looking through the cabinets.

_You people don't eat around here, I need food_.

I quickly texted back as I found half a bag of chips. Deciding it was better than starving I poured some into one of the plastic cups on the counter and made my way back into the living room, flicking on the television. I'd just stay put, no trouble for me today.

_Wanna go to The Grill? _

I frowned a little at his text, wasn't he supposed to be angry with his brother or brooding or something overly pathetic for no reason? I wondered as I let my fingers hover over the keyboard.

_Not really, I found some chips. How's everyone? _

I waited for what seemed like much too long. I knew I took a short nap but I couldn't have missed too much excitement, or danger.

_Bonnie's decorating the school for the dance and Elena is with Jeremy and Matt playing video games._

I tossed the phone aside as my eyes fell on the weather report. I should've asked him more, I should've asked how Damon was or if Stefan was really that mad about Damon and Elena. Some part of me felt like I should be asking, I should be trying to be his friend. Wait. My mind halted, did he just say Bonnie was the school? Kol. "Shit!" I said as I grabbed my phone, the chips spilling over at the same time. Even before my fingers could search for Bonnie's name her name popped up as an incoming call. "Aria!" she shouted as I started picking up the chips.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I swear, all I did today was drop chips on your car—"

"Get out of there, now" she said her voice quick. I started to ask why but my ears turned to the sound of the door being twisted.

"Uh-oh" I said as I stared at the door. Her dad was supposed to be coming. Right, the family talk. And then Jeremy. Shit. Kol died soon. "I'll find a way out" I whispered as I clicked off the phone and made it to Bonnie's room just before the door opened.

I didn't stay to hear anyone talk, I didn't have time for that, but instead hurried out the through the window, the only thing I felt bad about were few chips I left on the floor and the half empty bag in the kitchen. Once a safe distance away I dialed Stefan. "How about that Grill now?" I said half-jokingly as I crossed the street, carefully looking both ways.

Stefan was already waiting in a booth when I got there, having ordered us both sodas. I slumped in the seat and I leaned forward. "You guys are so messed up around here" I told him as he sort of smirked.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked.

"Bonnie's dad is having an intervention" I said as Stefan raised an eyebrow. "They think Shane's controlling her or something equally as stupid" I added.

"Well, do you think he's dangerous?" he asked as some waitress brought us over fries.

"I dunno…" I started. I personally hated Shane, he was the reason Bonnie even learned of her powers and what ultimately got her killed. On the other hand, it was also his fault because he was so hellbent on finding Silas. He could've taught her expressionism without the crap about Silas. She would've been safe, she wouldn't have died. "I think he's so set on his personal agenda he kind of forgets about the rest of us" I decided on saying.

"Well no one can be anymore selfish than Damon" Stefan replied as he started swirling his straw around in his drink.

"I know you're pissed about him and Elena but c'mon, you know it's not going to last, just let it all play out" I said as Stefan shot a glare at me. "Okay, bad choice of wording but to be fair, you slept with Rebekah, do you know how that looks?" I said as I arched an eyebrow at him.

"So, what do you wanna do now? We still have a few hours" he said as I looked at his sideways. _Few hours til what? _I asked myself but then quickly remembered Stefan knew Elena wanted to kill Kol. I bit my tongue before words could start pouring out. I couldn't let him know Klaus was going to pop up and get trapped. If that came out so would everything else.

"You guys are really going on this wild goose chase huh?" I asked dunking a fry into some ketchup as I leaned back.

"Guess so" he said looking over to the side a little but jerked his head back toward me when he realized what I must have been thinking. "No" he said at the same time I said "I'm coming." I glared at him but it did nothing as he only glared back.

"You're staying" he insisted but I shook my head.

"I'm coming, trust me, I need to be there" I said as another thought floated into my mind. What if I didn't say anything but acted. Nothing crazy happened when I went AWAL—well got kidnapped by Kol and shut in the bar full of vampires.

"Aria, no, I want you to be safe and here is safe" he continued insisting as I sucked in air. He might have been stubborn, but he was also Stefan.

"If I go, I can help. I can help everyone, Damon and Bonnie, you and Elena, even Jeremy, you know how important Jeremy is in all this" I said as we stared at each other.

"So long as you don't do anything stupid" he said as I raised my hands in the air and waved them in triumph. "I mean it Aria, we're simply doing this to help Damon and Bonnie."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Aria.**

**Note: Alright, this is starting episode 4.13. Enjoy and review.**

_**Over the River and Through the Woods**_

"Have you lost your mind!" Damon shouted even before I fully made my way into the living room of the Salvatore house. "No," he said pointing at me. I wrinkled my eyebrows but pulled my suitcase into the room anyway. It was the morning we were supposed to be leaving, we gathered in the Salvatore house one last time to go over the rules and such, Caroline and Tyler were watching Klaus who was trapped after almost killing Elena and Jeremy upon seeing his brother being engulfed in flames.

"I don't know, you guys" Bonnie said looking at me and then Damon and then Shane.

"I agree with Bonnie, we don't really need anyone holding us back," Shane said as I rolled my eyes. "No offense" he quickly added.

"She can't be compelled, she knows the story better than we do, she'd be a great asset" Stefan insisted as Rebekah smiled from the corner, no doubt she loved the no longer brotherly alliance, especially now with Kol dead and Stefan being part of the whole thing.

"She'd be a pain in my asset, that's for sure" Damon muttered as I shot him a look.

"Guys, let's not argue, I just want to get this over with, for all of us" Elena chipped in.

"Yeah, but, Aria, listen, I know you want to help but you can stay here and help the others, we don't want you being in danger" Jeremy said kindly.

"Thanks for your concern but I'm coming" I told him, all of them.

"Damnit Aria, no one wants to babysit or protect you the whole time!" Damon shouted at me as he stormed to the opposite side of the room.

"You're brining Elena" I said before I could stop myself. On the show, I could never understand why Elena had went with them, she didn't do anything to help, she was more so in the way really. Had _she _not come Jeremy wouldn't have been fooled when Katherine appeared.

"Come on, help me load the car" Stefan said lightly grabbing my arm.

"Are you sure you're not compelling her?" Damon asked as Stefan glared back at him. I looked from one to the other but neither of the said anything else so I followed Stefan out.

"Next time no comments about Elena" Stefan said gently as I practically threw things in the back. When we finished he patted me on the shoulder and went back inside telling me to get some air and clear my head. I knew it was mostly for the sake of not being ripped apart by Damon but it didn't help when Stefan defended Elena and overall her relationship with Damon.

What seemed like a thousand days later we were on the mysterious island; all of us looked overtired and annoyed. We had to sit on a plane with each other for hours. I especially did not handle jetleg well. It sucked even more because I was the only human without any 'assets'—minus the not being compelled part. Still, I was pretty useless, and cranky. _God, I'm like Damon PMSing. _I told myself as I attempted to gather some energy as I followed the others, but stayed a little distant behind them as Rebekah talked about everyone's usefulness. It was practically the same thing I had said at the house. _Whatever._ She was probably allowed to say it because we killed her brother.

We wandered around for a while, glancing at our map and making awkward light conversation as we went along. I vaguely paid attention but every now and then I would happen to catch Damon glancing at Bonnie when she wasm't looking and then Bonnie glancing over at Damon when he wasn't looking. Once, I had taken a step to move closer but Stefan grabbed my arm and shook his head. _What, were we just supposed to enjoy the view? _I wondered as I pulled away but didn't move toward Damon or Bonnie.

The first night was easy, setting up camp and gathering firewood. Caroline texted a few times to give us updates but overall it seemed like the regular camping trip.

"Aria," Damon said as he sat down beside me. "I know you don't like some people, but, please, for the sake of sanity, can you not be so obvious and straightforward about it? It helps no one" he said as I sucked in air.

"I don't get it, you and Bonnie stared at each other all the way here and now it's like it never happened. Why are you so stubborn? Both of you" I said, the jetlag getting to me.

"Someone needs a nap" he said with a tight smile.

"Screw you" I mumbled back as I stared at the fire.

"Hey Aria?" Bonnie asked as she came over and sat on my other side. "I know you're probably tired and everything but you know, try and be nicer, Elena's my best friend" she said as I tried my hardest not to glare at her.

"Bonnie, can we have some water?" Damon asked, mostly trying to change the topic.

"Get it yourself" she mumbled back to him.

"Please" he said kindly though Bonnie didn't move.

"Can I ask a favor, a personal one?" I asked as I managed to get up. "Talk to each other and stop being so stiff. Yeah he tried to kill you but get over it, I know it sucks Bonnie, I do, but, the tension is just not worth it." I said as both of them stared up at me. "And Damon, really, I don't understand why can't just—" I cut off as Stefan slung an arm around my shoulder.

"This is why I didn't want you to have my drink on the plane" he teased both of knowing I didn't drink anything except water on the plane.

"It's alright, a good night's sleep is the best remedy" Damon added as Elena came over.

"Hopefully in your own bed" Elena said, her sense of humor falling flat.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I couldn't even dent my brother's strike" Stefan replied. The whole situation would've been comical had tensions not been so high. As expected no one else said anything and I was left with Stefan dragging me away as Elena sat where I had been sitting. I looked back just in time to see the fleeting expression on both Damon and Bonnie's faces, they had wanted to talk, they needed to talk, to get out all the feelings but with Elena in the way that was bound to not happen. Maybe I would let everything play out and then stay behind to help Damon look for Bonnie. It was better than the self-sacrificing plan I originally had. Still, on the downside it meant Jeremy died. Elena would still have her melt-down. Maybe, just maybe I could figure something out; it just had to be soon. I thought as I looked over to see Shane giving me a hard expression as he looked through his weapons. _Yeah, soon. _


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character Aria.**

**Note: Thank you for your last reviews! So happy this story is still being read, you guys are the ones who really push it along. Here's another one to enjoy, some Bamon feels in this. On a side note, if you like vampires and the name Damon be sure to check out my story Year of the Seers and The Guys (I recommend starting on chapter 17). Happy reading, be sure to leave a review! =)**

_A Predictable Morning_

The morning sun hitting my eyelids made me turn over but it wasn't until I realized there was something else in my tent did I fully wake up, no, not something, _someone_. I quickly turned over to see Stefan lying beside me. _Uh, what? _I wondered as I slowly moved to the far side of the tent and grabbed one of the water bottles. _What is he doing in here? _I asked myself as I reached over to poke him.

Once, twice, three times but all he did was mumble something and then turn away from me. I thought back to the previous night. He dragged me away, we went off to find dinner, we ate dinner, we whispered about Bonnie and Damon—he still was genuinely happy that Damon was at least looking at Bonnie and Bonnie was looking back. I remembered Elena came over to apologize for being too forward. I remembered forcing myself to smile and accept it. Shortly after that we went to bed. I said goodnight to everyone and crawled into this tent. No one was here when I went to sleep.

Quietly, I crawled out. "Walk of shame?" Damon asked from the logs where the fire had been. "Though, would you really call it that if it's out in the wilderness and we're in tents?" he asked as I glanced back at the tent.

"Nothing happened" I stuttered out as Damon rolled his eyes.

"Of course nothing happened," he said as I breathed a sigh of relief. "Shady Shane was circling your tent while the rest of us were roasting marshmallows and singing. I suggested Stefan take the second shift" he explained as I ran a hand through my tangled hair.

"Wait, what do you mean, _second_?" I asked, my mind catching up to his words.

"I took the first shift, you were out cold by time I went in your tent, zipped up pretty tight too" he said as I squinted at him.

"Are you trying to make a dirty joke?" I asked as he merely smirked. "So, you watched me sleep? Both of you?" I asked, feeling highly uncomfortable; why Bella Swan—any girl—thought it was a redeeming quality was beyond me.

"It's only creepy if we do from the other side of the window" he explained as if serious.

"I don't have time for this" I told him as I started absently walking away.

"Well make time Aria," he said as I turned around. We stared at each other for a second longer and then he finally shook his head. "I wanna believe I love Elena" he started but held his hand up as I opened my mouth to say otherwise. "Deep down though, I just keep pushing away my feelings for Bonnie. Part of thinks it's just some weird thing I'll get over. I have to like her because she's Elena's best friend. But honestly, I can't see myself getting anyway with her. I killed her mother, I mean, who does that?" he asked waving his hands.

"Talk to her" I said, my words slowly because I knew there was a lot behind that.

"And say what?" he asked, his voice a little helpless.

"What do you wanna say?" I asked as I moved a little closer to him.

"I dunno, it feels wrong" he said with a shake of the head. "Being with Elena is safe, being with someone who definitely wants me is safe, Aria. Besides, I need to protect her" he added as I half rolled my eyes.

"But, don't you ever feel…I dunno, too set on it?" I asked for lack of a better word.

"Like it was planned?" he asked with a raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes" he said with a shrug. "I was with Katherine, it makes sense to want be with Elena" he explained.

"You should be with whoever you want to Damon" I told him as I heard a nearby tent opening, Bonnie peeking out.

"I thought I heard voices" she said cheerfully as she got up to join us.

"Morning Bonnie" I said as she smiled at me and then sort of smiled at Damon.

"Morning Judge-y" he said cheerfully, his body language falling back to casual as Bonnie rolled her eyes but seemed to fall into a relaxed state. I had to admire them, just standing together without the tension, with the witty comment and Bonnie not taking it to heart. I needed to get them alone more, it seemed to work wonders.

"Don't you feel better?" I asked, just twisting fate a little. I wasn't changing anything, I was simply putting them in situations where they were forced to confront their feelings. Cheating? Maybe. Messing things up? No.

"Yeah, you know, actual I think I do" Damon said as a slow smile started across his face. _Wait, what? Was he actually smiling, like, for real being happy? Was he finally putting down his defenses? _I looked over at Bonnie who seemed to go tense again as her eyes darted around. _No, focus Bonnie, Damon, remember? He wants you, pay attention, he wants you! _

"I've been reading a little more on this whole Silas thing" Bonnie said after a few seconds of silence as I mentally smacked my palm to my forehead.

"And?" Damon asked going along with her tone as I once again smacked myself. _At least they're talking, that counts. _I tried reassuring myself.

"Thank you, for coming with me that one day, I know you didn't want to or have to, but," she paused to nod as Damon searched her face. _Was he finally seeing what I knew was there? Was he finally going to learn how to let go of Elena?_

"Well you know how it is, I can't let my little witchy friend go off to see creepy professors by herself" Damon replied as Bonnie gave him a tight smile.

"Damon" Bonnie started as I backed away, knowing they were going to have their moment, knowing feelings were about to be discovered. I only turned around again because I heard the sound of another tent unzipping, this time Jeremy emerging, from the tent Bonnie had come from. _What the hell?! _I wondered as I looked from Bonnie to Damon to Jeremy. I knew they didn't sleep together, but _really?_ Was timing that bad—planned—all the time?

"I didn't know you were awake" Jeremy said as I glared at him but he seemed to be ignoring me. "Did you tell Damon what we thought about the Silas thing?" he asked as I shook my head and marched back to my tent. _God, I wish Jeremy would just die. _I rolled my eyes at the thought, _okay, bad wording, whatever. _I thought as Stefan grumbled something and then slowly opened his eyes.

"Mornin" he said tapping my knee as I went back to staring at the zipper.

"Whatever" I grumbled back as I heard Stefan sniff and sit up.

"Wake up on the—"

"Don't, just don't" I interrupted as I looked over at him. He nodded, cleared his throat and finished getting out of the sleeping bag. I reluctantly moved aside so he could fold mine up and then he unzipped the tent so we could get out and maybe get breakfast.

If this was some alternate reality where this was still a TV show, I could practically hear the audience giggling and shaking their heads—or rolling their eyes—at the predictable sight of Bonnie and Jeremy whispering and giggling, Shane fixing something, Rebekah smirking with an arched eyebrow, Damon sucking in air and Elena looking from me to Stefan with a shocked expression. "I think we walked right into this one" Stefan whispered in my ear as I shook head, let out a heavy sigh and prepared for the judging.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my character Aria.**

**Note: Huge thank you for the continued support/reading/reviewing. You guys are as always, awesome. =) **

_Bad News Bear_

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked as Shane nodded. I shrugged and made a move for Stefan, but realized Elena was inching toward him. _Dude, seriously, pick one. _I thought to myself as I sucked in air and sort of stomped over to where Damon was.

"No, you're with Stefan" Damon said even before I could disagree. "Or Bonnie, just not me, I can't deal with you this morning" he said as I shook my head.

"You won't regret it" I told him.

"You keep saying that but I'm not seeing a change" he said as I shook my head again, but followed him anyway. "Stubborn" he hissed as we started off. I would've gone with Bonnie and Jeremy had Shane not instantly whisked them away. Where was he going anyway? I sort of zoned out during this part of the show, it was once again, always about Elena.

"I don't get why you have to be the lone ranger" I told him as we moved along.

"Because I'm miserable and moody and torn" he said without shame as he moved aside a branch for me to pass.

"Wait!" I said grabbing his arm and jerking him back as a trap hidden under leaves sprung up. We both stared down at it, him more surprised as I was.

"Someone else is here besides us" he whispered as he started in another direction. He wasn't wrong, that fifth hunter was here. Not that he mattered, the only good he did was buying Damon time later when he was trying to find Bonnie. I was sure the spirits wouldn't mind if we strayed from that path just a little. He wasn't important. But wasn't someone else here too? Who had killed that random islander? I shook my head, why was my mind getting foggy?

"Yeah, there's definitely someone here" I said cautiously as Damon opened his mouth to say something but shook his head.

"How did you know? That I wanted to talk to Bonnie? How did you even know I like her?" he asked as he waved his arms.

"I'm not stupid nor am I solely focused on Elena's well-being" I explained as Damon sort of glared at me. "I mean, if you get pass Elena, if you realize how often you guys—especially you—need Bonnie to help, it makes sense" I told him as we continued walking.

"I think I love her, Aria" he said after some time. I nodded, trying to keep myself in check from squealing. "She almost died a while back, you remember, when Klaus wanted to kill her after hearing our plan during the Decade Dance" he explained.

"Yeah, you made that plan with her, Elena slapped you after" I said with a little smile.

"Bonnie had to pretend she was dead, I had close her eyes and pretend I was okay with it" he said as I nodded again, a little intrigued by Damon's tone. "No one has reflected on it because it was in the past, it was just another good deed, another sacrifice. But, when I was carrying her outside," he paused to shake his head. "I don't know what happened, but, having her in my arms—lifeless—realizing she could've been dead" he shook his head and looked off.

"I think watching it on TV was the one time viewers could agree, Damon—you, looked hurt, I mean, it was still early, but, I dunno, the way you carried her, how gentle you were…it looked real" I explained.

"It _was_," he said shaking his head. "And Elena just fell apart, I don't think any of us could do that again, could go through with that again, not just with Bonnie, but ya know, anyone" he explained as I felt myself tense.

"You know what you need?" I asked as he raised an eyebrow at me. "A new best friend" he snorted as I nodded. "I mean it, Stefan had Lexi and now Caroline, Elena has Caroline and Bonnie, Matt has Jeremy, everyone's got someone except you" I said and then remembered Alaric. "You had Alaric, but, well, he's dead, so, you need another best friend, you do better with friends" I explained.

"Until I get them killed, so whatever you're thinking, no, stick to being Stefan's bestie" he said as I sucked in air and we continued down toward the water.

"Tell Bonnie how you feel before it's too late" I told him as he gave me a strange look. "Like, as my only wish, if I were to die, it would be my dying wish" I told him.

"Don't talk like that, remember, you're in real life now, and everyone around here dies at least once" he said as I nodded and took my shoes off and dipped them into the water.

"What would you do if the cure was limited and had more consequences than good?" I asked as I walked around in the water, just up to my ankles.

"I'm sure it's no worse than we've done in the past" he answered.

"What if it had life or death consequences, over and over?" I asked.

"I supposed you just wouldn't tell me, right?" he asked.

"So, you seemed pretty willing to go off by yourself and letting Elena go off by herself" I explained as he nodded.

"Hey!" we whirled around to see Elena, and Rebekah walking toward us.

"Where's Stefan?" I asked them as Elena turned around to look behind her but stopped upon realizing something and then looked in the other direction.

"He was right behind us" Elena said as she looked over at Rebekah who seemed a little lost as to where Stefan was. "I dunno where he went…" she said as I continued looking around but knew something wasn't right.

"Stefan!" I shouted as I started in the opposite direction but out of the corner of my eye I saw something, no someone. _Shelia. _I stopped as she blankly stared me. "You know we need balance, shift events to your liking and we'll be forced to shift them back to ours" she said.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Note: Alright folks, thank you for all your reviews, so happy to read them. This chapter might seem a little confusing, but don't fear, it will be explained. **

_What's Next?_

"Stefan?" I shouted as I continued randomly walking around. "Stefan!" I called out again.

"Aria, what are you doing? Why aren't you with the others?" Jeremy asked appearing out of nowhere. I swirled around to get a better look at him, wasn't he just with Bonnie? "You okay?" he asked as I ran a hand through my hair.

"I don't know," I said feeling a rush of pain straight to my head. "I have to find Stefan" I told him as I sort of started walking again, but I knew I wasn't really moving. More like stumbling, I was stumbling over to a tree, Jeremy grabbing my arm before I fell over. "What's happening?" I asked feeling overly weak.

"Aria!" I heard him shout but was already on the ground.

"Always the damsel in distress" I heard Damon's voice tease from a little distance away. I grumbled something that was supposed to be swearing but he only snorted in response so I reckoned it didn't come out right. "What happened?" he asked.

"Where's Stefan?" I replied, my head clearing a little.

"Right here," I heard his soothing voice say from near my feet. "What's going on?" he asked as I shook my head, unable to really recall what happened. And then I remembered Shelia. I shot up, the short pain made me wince but I ignored it for the moment. "Where were you?" I asked Stefan who slowly shook his head.

"It's fine, someone was following me, but I led them off track, he should be lost for a while" Stefan explained as the brothers smiled at each other.

"You didn't kill him, right?" I asked as he shook his head. "Good," I said with a firm nod. Besides the Hunter's Curse, it wouldn't be ideal to kill anyone now.

"Anyway, I wanted to wait til you woke up, but, we have more news on the cure" he said as my mind halted in itself.

"There isn't enough for more than one person" I whispered as Stefan nodded.

"Isn't enough what?" Damon asked as I looked at Stefan for a second longer. _Was this even the part when Damon found out? _I asked myself as I quietly listen to Stefan explain.

"So, what happens now?" Damon asked when we finished.

"Jeremy's gone again" Elena said ripping through the tent.

"Already?" I asked as I felt Stefan step on my foot. "Sorry" I mumbled as Damon followed her out first.

"Stefan, I think we have a problem" I told him grabbing his arm before he could walk away. "And not about Damon and Bonnie. You were followed because of me" I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his eyebrows wrinkling.

"The guy following you was a hunter, one of the five. He was supposed to be hunting Damon" I explained as Stefan's expression grew worried. "But, Damon was with me so he didn't go in the direction he was supposed, so the hunter went after you" I said as Stefan nodded.

"Well, I'm okay, I got away" he said rubbing my arm to comfort me.

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about, Damon gets away from him too, but, he's trying to get to the cure too. Now with him running on the loose—"

"He might get to the cure first" Stefan interrupted as I nodded. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out, c'mon, I have an idea" he said as we started out. Almost instantly we noticed how quiet it was. Not in the peaceful type of way, more in the unsettling way. "What happens now?" Stefan whispered but I shook my head.

"I don't remember this part being on TV" I told him as he pulled me closer and carefully looked and listened round.

"Aria" he whispered as I looked over at him, doing a double take as I did.

"Not yet" I hissed, my eyes wide as another Stefan appeared out of nowhere.

"Please tell me you mean that in a good way" he mumbled back as other Stefan came closer. I shook my head, bracing myself for the worst but the weirdest thing happened. Nothing. I blinked once, twice. "Are—are we—did we die?" he asked as I looked over at him.

"I don't remember watching you getting stabbed with a stake" I half joked. "I also don't think he can hear us" I said realizing other Stefan couldn't hear us.

"Aria, seriously, if you know anything about this I think you should say…" he trailed off as we watched Damon walk over to Stefan, say a few thing and then walk off. Rebekah came out next, walking over to Stefan just as Elena appeared.

"Didn't this happen already?" I asked as Stefan continued looking on.

"Yeah, only, you were with Damon" Stefan reminded me.

"So, what's happening?" I asked as we followed Rebekah, Elena and other Stefan as he took a phone. "This is the part where Klaus says there's only enough for one" I said as Stefan nodded and we continued listening. "Damon's being kidnapped, that's what was supposed to happen. I think someone is going out of their way to make this happen" I explained as Stefan slowly looked at me, his face full of worry.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Note: Here's another chapter.**

_The Right Way_

"Where's Damon?" Stefan asked as I looked at him question. "Why did I say that?" he whispered to me as I slowly shook my head. Elena and Rebekah who were glaring at each other looked over at Stefan and then at me but before I could say anything Stefan started walking off.

"Where are you going?" I asked him but he didn't seem like he even knew.

"Over here I guess" he said as Rebekah followed him. It was weird, it was like I barely existed, no, it was like they were all going on like they were supposed to. Either way, it couldn't have been good. What happened now? I wondered as I cautiously looked over at Elena.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"There's only one dose of the cure" she said quietly. I nodded, _right, why didn't I remember that? Wasn't I just thinking that? What the hell?_

"Oh, right" I said as she nodded.

"You didn't remember?" she asked, a little accusingly.

"It's been a weird morning" I told her as I let out a heavy sigh.

"Well, that usually happens after sleeping Stefan" she said without skipping a beat. I looked back over at her, _wasn't she supposed to be the nice one who was always emotionally scarred by everything anyone said?_ "At least you didn't wake up to find out you are a doppelgänger of his first true love" she said. _Ah, there it was, the self-pity._

"It wasn't like that, we didn't do anything" I told her, not quite knowing why I felt the need to explain myself to her.

"So, Damon, do you think he's okay?" she asked.

"I dunno" I said not really in the mood to talk to her about her feelings or Damon. "Actually," I started feeling a new emotion in me building up. Truth. "Do you ever wonder if you really belong with him?" I asked as she blinked at me with surprise. "I mean, if you could picture him with anyone else, like, any of your friends…who do you think would be best?" I asked her as she shook her head.

"I know it's hard to believe we're together, but I do love him and I know he loves me. It's hard to understand and I get that, I do, especially for someone like you who's seen the whole thing, but, watching is different than feeling" she started as I rolled my eyes.

"And you don't think the sire bond has_ anything _to do with it?" I asked.

"No" she replied. _Bullshit. _"I think deep down, I loved him for a while, before the sire bond, I was just scared. You know how it is when you fall in love with a vampire" she said trying to make a joke of it but I only shrugged.

"Sometimes I think you both deserve better, well, what you're equal to, not more than you can handle" I explained, knowing I would come off overly bitchy if I said I didn't really care about her feelings or state of mind.

"I used to think that, but, if we were all equally with someone, it would be pointless, there'd be no way to help them" she said.

"You helped Stefan, I mean, remember when Klaus compelled him and he called you even though he wasn't supposed to or whatever?" I asked. Not that I wanted her back with Stefan, but getting any admission from her regarding her feelings for Stefan was a step.

"That was the past" she said simply as I sucked in air. _Damn, why was this so hard?_ I wondered as Elena opened her mouth to say more but gasped. I started to ask what was wrong but the next thing I noticed was Rebekah throwing Stefan off the ledge.

"Shit!" I said bringing myself to full attention as I started to run over but Elena grabbed my arm. "What are you doing? Go follow Rebekah" I told her, almost too anxious to get to Stefan. Elena shook her head and gave me a little shove.

"You follow her, I'll go to Stefan" she said as I shook my head.

"No, you need to find Damon and stop Rebekah, one does, she'll do anything" I said but Elena shook her head. "Go to Damon, you love him" I reminded her.

"Stefan's my friend, besides, it would take you all day to get down there" she explained. I wanted to argue on that but I knew she was right. Still, I hesitated for a moment.

"Fine" I said as I turned and ran. She was going to the well, or was supposed to. Damon and the hunter were already there. Someone else was here too, _but who?_ I wondered as I continued running, my feet faster than my mind.

As I got closer I heard voices, Bonnie, Jeremy and Shane must have already been down below, which mean. _Shit. _I couldn't let Jeremy die, I couldn't let Silas rise. Not just because it meant all focus shifted to Elena but also because the beginning of season five just seemed so crazy and was way too hard follow.

Not really thinking, I ran inside, no one was around, but they might have been further away, but I didn't stay to wait, instead I hurried down the well, landing with a loud _thump! _But continued onward. It was quiet, _too_ quiet.

"Help" I looked over to see Shane, he looked bruised up pretty bad.

"No way, this is all your fault" I told him as I started into the next room but stopped. _What was I doing again?_ I wondered as I looked around, trying to remember how I got down here. I was just watching Stefan being thrown off a cliff. Elena was going after him. But what was _I _doing? I heard voices a little distance off. One of them sounded like Bonnie. The other sounded like Elena. _But, wait, wasn't Elena just with Stefan?_ I shut my eyes tight and started to cover my ears but the voice echoed.

"I always forgot how stubborn you are little Gilbert" the voice said. _Katherine! _Right. _But what was she doing here?_ I asked myself as I made a step in the direction. _What was going on in there?_ I wondered feeling like I should know. Again, it was too quiet. I opened my mouth to call out hello but felt something hit the back of my head. Hard. And then again, to the point where I felt myself fall, and then nothing but black.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Note: Another chapter! **

_Another Confession_

I heard the dripping of distance water as I tried to open my eyes, but it was hard, especially with the headache. I felt the back of my head, a bump, but it wasn't huge and there was no blood. I sat up slowly, looking around, taking in the sights, trying to remember. I was in the well. The cure was in the other room. Silas was in the other room. Bonnie and Jeremy were in danger because Katherine showed up. She would kill them both, fed Jeremy to Silas. I jumped up, a little off balance but hurried into the next room, only to find it empty. I felt a shiver, right, now Silas was out there somehow. _But how did I miss this? What happened?_ I felt my head again as I wandered back into the other room, looking around for a way up. All I saw was the rope. "At least those gym classes are paying off…" I mumbled to myself as I climbed up.

Once out of the hole I tried to remember what happened, but it was weird. I remembered everything that was supposed to happen, I remember how it went on TV. But, when I recalled my day's events, how I could've stopped it, how I could've helped I could only remember how useless I was. "We've altered your mind a bit" I whirled around to see Shelia again. Or maybe it wasn't Shelia, maybe Silas was playing games on me.

"You're not real" I told her but she only arched an eyebrow at me. "Why would you do that?" I asked anyway.

"Whether we like them or not, some events just have to happen" she explained as I shook my head. "I know you don't believe that, but, that's not why you're here, you're not here to change events, you're not here to stop deaths." I felt my jaw clench, _what was the point then?_ "Quite honestly, I shouldn't tell you why you're here" she said as I shook my head.

"I deserve to know, or you can send me back home!" I exclaimed. If she wasn't there, if I had been talking to a ghost I was certain I looked pretty stupid right now.

"You bring balance, you speak truth, you want love" she said as I now raised an eyebrow at her. "The way you express your feelings for Bonnie and Damon, there's so much truth to it, so much compassion. I know you see what I see" she explained.

"You mean, _you want them together_?" I asked in full doubt.

"They are balance. Could you imagine the power and control and helpfulness they could bring to Mystic Falls?" she asked.

"Wait, so, you really brought me here to play Cupid?" I asked as she let out a little laugh.

"Of course not, your role will become clear as you move on. However, if you continue to interfere we will continue to alter your memory" she said as I gulped.

"Is that really necessary?" I asked as she smiled. "How do I know you're real? I remember Silas has great powers" I said.

"If it makes you feel better, he won't hurt you" she said with another reassuring smile though it did not make me _feel_ better. In fact, it seemed like something I should, for the time, keep to myself. "Go find Damon, you know he's still here looking for Bonnie" she said.

"Why?" I asked, thinking maybe she knew more than me.

"We both know the answer to that" she replied before disappearing. I stared at the space she had been, for a minute thinking I would wake up back in the well.

"This is getting insane…" I told myself as I started off in a random direction.

What felt like a good hour later I managed to make it back to a less isolated, less creepy part of the island, though it didn't make me feel better than I hadn't seen anyone. I wish I had at least found water, I was feeling a little dizzy, but I wouldn't let myself pass out. Not again. I thought as I leaned against a tree but heard distance rustling. "Hello" I said stupidly. Every horror movie someone called out and they ended up dead._ Just don't go toward the noise. _I told myself as the rustling got closer to me. _Great. _I thought sarcastically as broke off the nearest branch. It wasn't long, nor sharp but, it was something I could defend myself with. "I'm armed!" I called out as I moved back, trying to hide behind a tree.

"Aria?" I heard someone call out. I peeked around the tree to see Damon. I let out a sigh of relief as he did the same but then pointed at the branch in my hand. "What are you going to do with that twig, wave it like a wand a case a spell?" he asked in a strained humorous voice.

"No, I thought you were someone else" I said as tossed the stick aside, only realizing he _could _be someone else. He could be Silas. "You okay?" I asked already knowing he wasn't, already know what happened.

"Where were you?" he asked accusingly, his voice suddenly angry. I started to stutter out a response but he started talking again. "I thought you said you were going to be my friend, I thought you were here to help. You could've stopped Jeremy from dying. What the hell are we supposed to tell Elena?" he asked as I tried to keep my own cool.

"I'm sorry" was all I could think to reply.

"That doesn't cut it, you're useless here" he snorted as he turned away.

"I know you're mad Damon" I started as I followed after him.

"I just wanna find Bonnie and go home" he said as he continued walking.

"Why?" I asked but he continued walking. "If Elena means so much to you, if you're worried about her state of mind finding out Jeremy is dead why are you here?" I asked, the anger from his sour mood rolling onto me.

"Because Aria!" he shouted as he spun around to face me. He shook his head and took a deep breath, his phone interrupting the silence. I figured it had to be Stefan calling. "She makes me feel safe, she's the rock in this thing, I need her to be around, not just for Elena or because she's a witch but because she's comforting, she knows what she needs to do, she's sure and ready and confident at all times" he shook his head but continued. "I depend on her to keep me sane, if I have Elena, I have Bonnie, if I'm with Elena, Bonnie can tolerate me. I want to get away from that, I want her, Bonnie, to know I want her around because I care about her." Part of me wanted to smile at his admission, but it was just the same thing I had been hearing, the same thing he seemed completely reluctant about telling Bonnie. The only reason I gasped was because Bonnie was standing some distance away, but it was clear she heard every word.

"You mean that…?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper. Damon turned around, I was no longer able to see his face, but I was certain it held fear, but also some kind of relief.


End file.
